Do I have to pay my secretary for the 2weeks of her wedding?

besty

Thu, Sep 08 2016, 10:06 am

personally I think at least one week is normal its not like she's taking a vacation or something......especially if she's a good worker

dancingqueen

Thu, Sep 08 2016, 10:14 am

m in Israel wrote:

This. And I would venture to add that in most of the world 2 weeks extra paid leave just because someone is getting married is actually NOT the "norm".

In many areas that I'm familiar with it's normal to take a honeymoon right after the wedding, 2 weeks is not uncommon, and bank their vacation days To do so. It does sound like ops secretary possibly doesn't have formal vacation days?

veiznisht

Thu, Sep 08 2016, 10:41 am

I got two weeks paid though I wasn't expecting it.

amother

Teal

Thu, Sep 08 2016, 11:40 am

based in what u wrote I think u it would be nice if u paid her through sheva brachos. I was back to work the day after sheva brachos. (meaning not the day after the last party, the next day) so one week basically

m in Israel

Thu, Sep 08 2016, 12:02 pm

dancingqueen wrote:

I specifically said 2 weeks extra paid leave. Your example proves my point -- these people were not given ANY extra leave just in honor of getting married -- they were expected to use their banked vacation days. In my experience that is what is typical -- most employers do not give extra paid leave based on a person getting married. If this secretary has no formal vacation days at all, that is a different situation, and she should be entitled to some days regardless of whether or not she is getting married.

momofqts

Thu, Sep 08 2016, 12:11 pm

There is no norm. Each place has their policy. I think lots of places pay 1 week but allow 2 weeks off.

amother

Goldenrod

Thu, Sep 08 2016, 2:35 pm

amother wrote:

Whooooooo kids are finally in school(my youngest still on his way....)
To answer some questions, she works alone in the office, I backup from my home office for her lunch break, or whenever its hectic. For the next 2 weeks I ligned up more cleaning help as well as Babysitter for every afternoon from before kids get home till after 6. I will have to work more than full time, to field all calls and emails, cause will not have lunch break or help in this hectic season....in additon I have quite a few daily tasks that will have to be done while I take over for her too.... I'm bracing for tough 2 weeks ahead....
She works for us for almost a year and we are extremely satisfied Bh. (We still cant fathom how I managed without her so many years. ...) we actually increased her salary (without her asking for it)several times in the last few months cause we so appreciate how efficient she is Bh.

Boy can I relate! As an employer with two employees in my office, a lot falls on me when they are out and I would not manage without them.

That said, I will say that how much I paid when one of them got married or had a baby, had a lot to do with:
- how long they worked for me
- how happy I was with them, and therefore how important it was to me to make them and keep them happy
- how many recent vacations they have taken

Usually, they get up to one week of vacation twice annually. I had one employee that I was extremely happy with that wanted to spend her vacation time in Eretz Yisroel. I gladly gave her an additional 2-3 days because I knew from experience that when she returns she'll put in the extra hours even though she is on salary until everything gets back on track. I even paid that employee a bonus equal to four out of her six week maternity leave.

However, my second employee is working for me for about one year now. She is not as devoted, responsible, and sharp. If she would have a baby now I would probably not give her more than a baby gift. I did however pay her for one week of vacation last month as she agreed to work for 2-3 hours daily while she was out since this was her second vacation this summer.

It's definitely case by case.

MiracleMama

Thu, Sep 08 2016, 2:42 pm

Ahuvah2 wrote:

The norm is to pay.

The norm where? I was HR manager for 10 years and never once gifted an employee getting married paid time. If she/he had vacation days, banked holidays or even sick days to use, they were entitled to use them.

OP, if you want to gift some or all of these days to an employee, it's very kind and generous, and perhaps a good investment if it's a valued employee. It is NOT IMO a necessity.

watergirl

Thu, Sep 08 2016, 2:44 pm

Op, did she ask you for the paid time off? It looks like there will be an imbalance of power if you oay her for this time - meaning, you've already given her an asked for raises a number of times in one year, if you give her paid time off for two weeks that was never part of the agreement, it's not setting a good precedent for continuing your work relationship with her.

amother

Burgundy

Thu, Sep 08 2016, 4:40 pm

I didn't get paid when I took off for my wedding. I got married on a Tuesday. I took off 2 weeks starting on Monday the day before. Sheva brochos finished Wednesday evening so I took off till the end of the week. I used my 2 weeks paid vacation I had accumulated.

IMO, If you give too many bonuses (frequent raises more than the norm, extra vacation days / sick days) you may be setting yourself up to be taken advantage of. When she'll give birth she will expect 6 weeks paid maternity leave. She'll also be expecting spontaneous raises throughout the year wih the frequency you did this past year. When she doesn't receive it she may get upset and decide to leave.

agreer

Thu, Sep 08 2016, 7:05 pm

no, it's not normal to pay for 2 weeks off.

that being said, do what you want.

amother

Crimson

Thu, Sep 08 2016, 7:24 pm

amother wrote:

Since there are two of them that is setting yourself up for disaster because they are bound to talk and expect what the other got. On the one hand it can be case by case (one had a baby, one took an extra vacation) so they aren't quite the same situation but the second one is bound to have a baby too and if she heard that from the first she will probably expect the same. And it's not about the first sharing info she shouldn't. She'll probably ask the first what to expect.

Back to the question at hand--I got married on a Thursday. I was off from two days before and then started working a week and a half later on Sunday. I do shift work so only equalled taking off three days total. I did not get paid for it. I also didn't get an engagement or wedding gift from my employer. What I did get instead was an invite to chip in for his anniversary present and later his holiday present. I never got a holiday present. I also got to work extra shifts the following few months and had to push off my honeymoon four months. In the month I finally ended up being able to go I had to push it off three weeks. Then due to scheduling constraints it ended up being 4 days instead of a week. Needless to say it did not promote very much good will and I was miserable there. Stayed for the conveniences of working at a place I knew but didn't bother going the extra mile when I didn't have to.