If supported by the company, enforcing a policy requiring unpaid time off provides short-term cost reduction. Although it has an impact on employee morale, recognizing that the alternative is layoffs helps gain employees’ acceptance. It can be a scheduling challenge, as IT provides coverage for the business, so you will need to rotate unpaid days off so that key employees are not gone at the same time. Alternatively, you could set a time frame for the number of days off that each employee must take as long as you approve and stagger the requests. Due to their unique skill sets, many employees in IT are often on call for off-hour problems and it can get dicey if you need to contact them on their forced, unpaid day off. This would be a good detail to communicate in advance. Project schedules and deadlines are also impacted and would need to be revisited. Of course, delaying projects would delay benefit realization as well, so even this option has ramifications. Employees that cannot afford the day off may also look for other employment options and a negative impact to morale is a distinct possibility.
Consider temporary staff reductions by offering sabbaticals, long-term time off, or vacations without pay. IT employees who have been working extra hours, those wanting to go back to school, or those starting a family may find this to be an attractive option. You can negotiate items such as keeping benefits and health coverage in exchange for occasional support, if needed. The employee often returns with increased energy, motivation, and productivity for a win-win solution.
Top Tip 1: Primary and secondary responsibilities
"You need to have a primary and a secondary person for every application. Make sure the secondary person is as knowledgeable as the primary. You need to plan now for the eventuality of future layoffs or reductions."
—Colleen Mlecoch
Amherst H. Wilder Foundation
Amherst H. Wilder Foundation
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