Business Opportunities Weblog

April 16, 2009 by Jaclyn Wells | 1 Comment

photo credit: House Of Sims

In today’s current economic condition, many employers are resorting to telling their employees to take time off without pay. Some are doing this by telling them to take one day a week off, or maybe a few day’s every other week off without pay. While they are attempting this in order to save the company so that all the employees may return to work full time at some point, some question whether this is a fair deal or not.

Many would argue that that this concept is not only unfair but also risky, including Tom Davenport. By employers forcing all employees to take the same amount of time off without pay, it’s like they are saying that every employee is completely equal. While yes, it’s one thing to talk to your employees as though they are equal, we all know that in the real world they are not. This may cause some of your more experienced and valued employees to go somewhere else for a job, maybe even to your big competitor.

The other potential problem is that employees, given an involuntary time chop, may look elsewhere to fill the void. They’ll freelance, e-lance, or moonlight to replace the lost income. This could lead to a variety of negative scenarios for the employer/barber who originally chopped their time. The employee might find the freelance employer more desirable, and jump ship altogether for full-time employment there. Or he might end up doing a bit of his freelance work while ostensibly on the clock for the 80% or 90% employer.

What are your thoughts on forced time off for everyone?

In Recession, Time, Value, Work | 1 Comment