Can we exempt top management from our vacation policy? 12-07-2005

We have a standing policy of two weeks paid vacation, 3 sick days, 3 personal days. Personal days must be requested from supervisor before taking. Sick days cannot be used as personal days. Vacations must be taken in a maximum of five-day blocks with no vacation lasting longer than 10 days (one work week (5 days) two weekends and one holiday). I have a Senior management employee who would like to travel home overseas for three weeks every year.

My question...
Do I open myself up for possible lawsuits if I allow this employee to take the three weeks (he has asked to be allowed to do this every year) and not others?

Rita Risser replies:

You can have one vacation policy for senior management and another for the rest of the company. If you allow this employee 3 weeks, you should allow 3 weeks for all other people at his level or higher.

Although it is not a legal problem, having different policies like this can lead to severe morale problems.

From a values perspective, I think it's preferable to have a looser policy. Why not let them have two weeks plus their two weekends, and make the 3 sick and 3 personal into 6 days of PTO. If someone stays well and doesn't use their sick leave, I think they ought to be rewarded for that.

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