Last time I talked about leaves of absence and how they can creep up on us. Let’s go a step further and talk about a culture that promotes balance and boundaries and how that might avoid some of that creeping.
In California and many other places, some time off work is required. The big requirements are: paid sick leave, pregnancy disability, and family and medical leave. These apply to almost all of Affogato’s clients and virtually all California employers. Even if they weren’t required, employers prefer a healthy workforce and employees want a supportive workplace.
How does the creep happen? I think it comes down to boundaries and expectations. As an employer, you can talk to your employees about how we’re going to get the work done. In fact, the rest of the team relies on management to do that. When employees experience that support, I believe they will be willing to talk about what they can and cannot do. What does that look like every day? Reminding the team about your company’s values and policies and communicating regularly about expectations, like taking time off when it’s needed, because that’s why it’s there.
If you’re considering doing more than you’re required to, we would love to talk to you about the tradeoffs. You want to be generous, flexible and compassionate because employees are your most important asset. But generosity has a price. Sometimes it’s financial, or leaning more heavily on other employees, or dealing with compliance issues. These aren’t bad tradeoffs, you just need to know where you’re going. Then you can set boundaries and expectations with your team.
As always, here at Affogato we care about compliance because we believe in a strong foundation. Once you have that, you can build a strong business with great employees.
To your success,
Jonna, Lisa, Suzanne, Lisha, Karen, Christina & Linda