Scheduling: Who Should Get the 4th of July Off?

Dear Expert:

The 4th of July is coming up and I’m dreading the inevitable arguments that come up when we try to put the schedule together. Of course, everyone has requested the weekend off. I’ve tried scheduling people myself, but that turned out to be a disaster. When I tried allowing the staff to work it out amongst themselves, however, that did not work either. What’s the fairest way to decide who gets what holidays off? Ideally, I’d like folks to work it out amongst themselves, but at our clinic that’s unrealistic. Is there some sort of system/practice that other clinics use to figure this out?

-Trying to be Fair

Dear Fair:

One of the quickest ways to cause dissention among work staff is to inadvertently create the perception of an unfair distribution of holiday work. "Fairness" and the perception of fairness, is an integral attribute in the development of a satisfied work team. Notice that I underscored "perception" as perception is reality in a workplace.

Although it would be wonderful to have your staff decide these difficult scheduling dilemmas amongst themselves, such a system rarely works for most teams.

Holidays come up every year and covering them is a necessary reality in patient care-related careers. These kinds of struggles are best worked out, and planned for, well in advance. Practices which are most successful at avoiding such difficulties keep separate schedules for annual holidays and post the coverage of them well in advance of the day to allow for plans and trades. This is one of those arenas where having a very clear set of expectations (all staff members will work at least TWO designated holidays annually: list holidays) and a fair system will save many headaches for the practice manager/owner and arguments among the staff. Make sure that both your system for scheduling holidays and the expectation that each employee will work a fair share of holidays are clearly outlined in employee handbooks, staff responsibility guides and employment contracts.

There are many inexpensive staff scheduling software programs on the market which are excellent resources for veterinary practices. These programs allow for variables to be programmed into monthly schedules to ensure that call, overtime, and holiday schedules are equally distributed among the entire staff. These programs keep track of the various holiday schedules and special requests, so that consistency can be assured. Such a program is well worth the investment when it comes to ensuring a fair distribution of work.

Since you are going to have to get through the upcoming holiday BEFORE you unveil your new system and clear set of expectations, here are a few suggestions:

1. Ask for volunteers to cover the upcoming holiday, making it clear that this will take those who come forward off the holiday coverage list for the rest of the year (or next two holidays, etc.)

2. If no one volunteers, suggest a lottery be held in which everyone's name is included. In this way, coverage is left to a random selection.

3. Offer employees who volunteer to cover the holiday the option of selecting another workday of their choice to take as a holiday-replacement.

4. Make it clear that although responsibility for holiday coverage falls on the employees assigned each holiday, that emergencies can be accommodated through trading coverage. (Employees are responsible for arranging their own trades.)

I hope you find both these short term and long term solutions helpful. As with many team environmental issues, the best solutions are those which prevent such dilemmas from occurring in the first place. I suggest leaders and managers look at all such reoccurring or consistent workplace management issues, and develop both an explicit set of expectations AND a clear and understandable system, to address them. This is great preventative care for your practice!

Regards,

Dr. Ruby

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