Since the pandemic started we have seen a number (almost all) manufacturing companies rely on overtime to deal with staffing shortages. However, in many cases, we are seeing excessive overtime increasing those shortages. With attendance being most companies' #1 reason for termination.
While attendance has long been the #1 reason for attendance terminations in manufacturing the current environment shows that something needs to be done as an industry to maintain employees. We have put together the following recommendations to reduce the reliance on overtime in manufacturing.
While we all (yes, your employees understand) that Overtime is a necessity there are a few things that become apparent in our conversations (keep in mind that this isn't just with hourly employees but salaried supervisors).
Let's take a moment to dig into each of these. And while the conversation shouldn't be surprising it needs to be said.
Most of us in leadership roles have lied to an employee once if not more. However, most of the time the lying isn't intentional. For example, we fall behind on production and need OT to catch up. Employees ask "how long should we expect to work OT" and we may not have a direct answer but we say something like "this is a temporary need for us to catch up on production" or "we are entering our peak season". In some cases, these are true, however, in many of our conversations we are seeing OT that has lasted for 6 months or more. Employees that are working 70+ hours per week in the manufacturing sector. This is a 10-12 hour shift 6-7 days per week.
Again, most employees understand that OT is a part of doing business and having a job. However, the communication behind OT as well as the expectations of OT seems to always be to the benefit of the employer and not the employee. Specifics issues around OT and Attendance policies from employees:
Think about it a regular full-time employee works 2080 hours per year (40hrs x 52 weeks). When employers require more overtime there are usually no concessions to vacation or attendance policies. Additionally, company overtime policies usually have no reference to a 'minimum notification period' or a 'maximum number of mandatory OT hours' before 'mandatory time off' is granted.
While all companies have to follow federal overtime laws in the US as well as any state laws depending on where they operate employees are frustrated that it only comes down to pay. What are employees looking for?
Remember that everything should be in balance. The best solutions usually put the employee and the employer on equal grounds for responsibility.
We recommend the following provisions be in each policy:
Many of us have heard of the 'gig economy'. Several businesses are almost exclusively 'gig' based; Uber, Lyft, UpWork, etc. These jobs allow people to have a certain amount of 'freedom' in their schedules by setting their hours, projects, etc. Can this be applied to manufacturing? The short answer is 'YES'!
We will write a more detailed article on this at a later date. Embracing the gig economy is a great way to help control overtime hours. Our top 2 techniques for applying a 'gig economy' model in manufacturing are:
Think about this, on any given day in manufacturing you have employees call out of work which will decrease production or you have other tasks that may detract your full-time workforce from their specific jobs (think housekeeping duties around the facility or other 'small' but important tasks). What if you maintained a part-time workforce that could 'sign-up' for these as they are posted.
For example, you need 50 employees on a 12-hour shift and have 2 callouts. What if you could post these 2 spots to a 'gig' workforce that allows you to backfill these 2 absences with minimal work? Say a supervisor posts these shifts and they are available for 2 hours after the start of a shift. Having 10 hours of production in most cases is better than 0 hours from a callout.
Post weekend positions ahead of time to allow full-time employees to take time off. Posting weekend roles to these 'gig' workers will help you control overtime as well as give your full-time employees a much-deserved and needed break.
There are several 'small' tasks that we skip or shortcut every day in manufacturing. Having a workforce that could 'flex' to fill these jobs such as housekeeping for specific areas of the plant or other 'small' but important tasks could also be beneficial as it prevents you from taking your experienced employees away from their primary duties.
A few things to consider when using a 'gig economy' setup to reduce overtime in manufacturing:
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