The ever-lasting debate between work and life came about in a recent post over at Ask a Manager. In this particular situation, a woman declined a last-minute invite to show up at a convention’s reception because she had an important family dinner already planned.
The author concludes that “reasonable managers do sometimes expect people to do things outside of normal work hours, but those things are planned for well in advance, emergencies, or flexible if they conflict with something else.”
The Manager’s comments are very true. It would also be unreasonable for a supervisor to always expect an employee to be able to bend to his or her will when assignments happen to pop up last-notice, especially if they are not emergencies. However it would also be unreasonable for a salaried employee to regularly ignore tasks outside of the typical work hours.
Of course there are exceptions to these situations, especially in certain industries. Common sense and the Manager identify these as well. Further, if something very important or game-changing has happened then an employee should be able to compare plans, follow-through accordingly, and the manager should maintain reasonable expectations. These are the types of decisions that would have to be made on a case-by-case basis.
For more information on human resource consulting or employer programs, contact Xenium HR at 503-612-1555 or visit www.xeniumhr.com. This article is intended as information only and is not a substitute for legal advice. Xenium HR is a professional employer organization specializing in strategic HR partnership with small and mid-sized businesses in Portland, Oregon.