expectations of salaried employees

Question

I've worked in my current position for over six years now. My boss and I have a very close personal relationship which I've been finding more often than not is getting in the way of us being able to work well together. I recently negotiated my hours to be able to leave the office early three days a week and have been coming in early to make up the difference. However, she has been calling me at all hours and on weekends as well. In the past I've never thought twice about it and didn't mind but her expectations seem to be changing since our re-negotiation. Just this week we had some early closures and the rest of the hourly staff is getting to leave early. She showed up at the office unexpectedly today and told me she expects me to stay late and work since I'm still getting paid. I normally don't mind doing whatever I have to do to make sure my work is getting done, however it seems that her expectation has changed without telling me.  It's not that I don't want to stay late but I wasn't prepared to do that  this week in particular. For those of you that are salaried, are you expected to take calls at all hours and weekends? Not sure how I should proceed..

Ashley Koerner · Answer

It certainly sounds as though another conversation needs to be had with your boss to understand her expectations, and to work together to establish some boundaries. As a salaried employee whose work can be high-volume during certain parts of the year, and low during others, I've constantly aimed to be in open-communication with my boss about how taxed I am or am not during work hours. For those low times though, there's not enough work to make up a full 8-hour day, but during the high-volume times, we're both easily working 50-60 hours weeks. It's about balance, and especially about boundaries. Work-life balance seems ever so elusive right now, but it's probably far more important than before. Discussing with your boss how/where you're putting in the hours, putting those times on your calendar for transparency, and just generally ensuring all of your duties are being done in a timely fashion - these all might be good efforts to make to 1) address an apparent miscommunication/different expectations, 2) re-establish a working relationship over a friendship, and 3) demonstrate that you're still getting the job done but need solid boundaries outside of your work hours.

M Elizabeth Ingram · Answer

No one should always be on; yes as a salaried employee you need to get your job completed, but you shouldn't be working extra time due to trivialities.   I work a funky schedule right now due to childcare, but I have when I'm not available during the regular work day on my calendar and typically do a last check about 10 minutes before the end of our 'work day' to make sure everyone has what they need from me before they leave for the day.
It sounds like there are some communication issues with your boss.  Have you considered putting your requests (not being requested to work longer last minute, etc.) in writing and asking to have a conversation about it?  That way she has time to absorb the info and formulate a response that isn't in the moment.

Anonymous · Answer

As a salaried director, I know I need to make myself available for any urgent business 24/7.  I have some funny stores of an interesting conference call at 2 am while a VP on the call had too much beer or another of when I was texted on my European vacation at 4 am because an email looked off.  However, most of the extra outside hours I put in are up to me to either catch up or do what I want to do and the exceptions of someone contacting me is far and few between.

However, on the other end...  I have an employee who does not want to put her kids in daycare.  She  works 7:00 to 2:30 and does not take a lunch.  I wanted to support her (and retain her), so I agreed. That means she needs to make up at least 2.5 hours a week somewhere and more if she takes a lunch.  I am not micro-managing her, so I never know when she is making up those hours at home.  Due to this, I might call her while she is cooking her kids dinner at 4:30 and she still needs to be 'on' since our work day ends at 5:00.  I think this puts so much extra stress on her, but it was the compromise we came up with - she has to make up her time at home and always be on-call until 5 pm.  Maybe set rules like this with your boss.

Nancy Janet · Answer

Hmmmm   Could be in her head she's moved you to 'the friend zone'   When your friends don't help you out, it hurts, and that may be what she is feeling.   But while there is an element of friendship in the relationship, it appears its falling on you to re-establish that the primary relationship here is of employee and supervisor.  As such, you have every right to ask for clarification of your responsibilities and expectations.  My bet is this will 'hurt' the 'friendship' but that is likely necessary to resolve the issue.   You may need to evaluate which aspect of this relationship is the most important to you in case the ultimate solution involves letting go of one aspect, to make the other work.   I don't see it as likely that the two can co-exist in the same way going forward

Nancy Janet · Answer

Expectations for off hours availability of salaried employees are as varied as the managers to whom they report.  As you are already aware, your close personal relationship with your boss is adding some complexity.  Often  with that relationship, the supervisor perceives higher levels of support in terms of additional hours may be expected.  The first step would be to ask for a definition of what type of hours availablity are expected  for that level of position.   That wording is important to call your bosses attention to the fact that she may be inappropriately singling you out for these additional hours.   Hopefully a more formal definition of expectations in this area will give you clarity as to whether or not you are willing to meet them, or if you need to begin to seek out other options.

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