While your employees’ contracts and job descriptions may say “and other tasks as assigned,” there are still some things that you should never ask them to do. Some of these tasks may violate the law, while others are just not good business practice. Avoid the three scenarios below in order to maintain a safe workplace environment.
Working Off the Clock
There may be times that you are tempted to ask employees to work off the clock. For example, an employee may walk in as a customer needs help in their area of expertise, or someone may need help after the employee has clocked out for the day. Resist the urge to ask the employee to help them until after they have clocked in. Even if the employee does not seem to mind, it is against federal and state law and can result in you getting fined. Furthermore, if the employee gets hurt while working off the clock, then insurance may not cover them.
Perform Building Maintenance
Never ask your employees to perform building maintenance. That is not part of their job duties and can harm employee morale. Additionally, it is probably not their specialty. Therefore, while some employees may be able to fix some things temporarily, it will probably end up costing you more in the long run when you have to hire a professional to come in and get the problem fixed correctly.
According to High Quality Home Maintenance, asking employees to do building maintenance is an inefficient use of their time and skills, and will likely result in the work not being done to the level it needs to be. It is okay, however, to ask them to clean up after themselves and to keep their workstations in a reasonably clean condition.
Work Without the Proper Safety Gear
There are many situations where your employees may need to wear safety gear, and you should never ask them to clean up chemicals or an area where there may be bodily fluids without protective equipment. According to Grainger, your employees should have the right size ladder for the job that they are doing. Also, be sure that they never feel so much pressure to do a job quickly that they choose to perform it in an unsafe manner.
While you may ask a lot of your employees, make sure that you never ask them to do these three things. While you want your employees to feel safe at work, you are also protecting yourself and your company’s future when you follow the rules. In fact, if you break the law and allow your employees to do any of these things, it could lead to you being sued.