Question

Please answer the following case study questions:

Time Theft

Case:

You are the supervisor of several employees. Each employee has their own individual way of “slacking” at work. If you have an employee, who you pay, who is doing something other than working, technically they are being paid to do something that they are not doing. This is typically called, time theft. Examples include taking long breaks, talking to peers, taking too long of a lunch, looking at social media (facebook, twitter, etc...) during work time, and many other ways to avoid work. You now have employees who you know are not working their full 8 hours, they are doing other things (non-productive) during work hour.

Question:

1) Why is time theft a problem?

2) How much time theft is allowable (if any)?

3) What are some reasons time theft would be allowable?

4) How would you handle this situation?

Answer 1

1) Why is time theft a problem:

Time theft can be a big problem not jsut for employees who are indulging in it but as a wrong example for others too. In addition to it being a financial cost to the company with the employee drawing salary and not working for as many hours as intended, it also diminishes employee productivity and morale.

The quality of work delivered by these set of employees and also those who see that there's no strict action against those who indulge in it falls drastically. In turn, if this is set as an acceptable practice and example in the company, this can have a domino effect at both cost and quality of work level.

2) How much time theft is allowable ( if any)?

There is no acceptable or allowable limit of time theft. Eveyr company prescribes a certain set of hours of work in accordance with government laws and employees are supposed to abide by it. Any intentional misinformation regarding reporting that is a crime.

3) What are some reasons time theft would be allowable?

With clearly written policies and job responsibilities, there are no reasons why an employee thinks time theft is permissible. However, in the following cases, time theft can be questioned:

- When there is no clear division of person's work responsibilities and job description

- When there are no policies defined around minimum work time, actions against same and what all qualifies as time theft

- When there is no overtime paid for extra work and employee can question his/ her extra hours put vs time theft hours in question

- When there are no policies around permissible human rights like washroom breaks, lunch etc.

4) How would you handle this situation?

There are various ways to tackle slacking which can be classified as proactive and reactive approaches:

Proactive Approach:

- Setting clear policies around minimum hours needed, human permissible rights like washroom breaks, lunch etc.

- Communicating policies clearly and at regular intervals so that employees have clear idea around same.

- Conducting regular meetings with employees to foster an open environment, clear their doubts and set their expectations clearly of what are their goals, responsibilities etc.

- Set up clear tracking systems for attendance, internet usage and social media usage for employees in office hours at workplace or on VPN

- Providing them feedback and warnings on breaches to counter unintentional behaviour

- Duly compensating them for any extra work esp. in case of hourly wage workers to avoid conflict.

Reactive Approach:

- Setting right example in case of breach of policies and ensuring right action is taken against those who make it a habit

- Supporting whistleblowing and reporting of repeated offender instances so the dilligent employees dont feel the workplace in unfair and get demotivated