You work as the Head of Human Resources (HR) for a large manufacturing company headquartered in California. The company is facing challenges in sales revenues and, as a result, they are working to cut costs, among other things. The Chief Operating Officer has sent a memo to all managers in the company, including you, stating that overtime may not be authorized for nonexempt employees until further notice. You have provided this memo to all of the managers in your department.

You have asked your deputy, Victor, to pull together an overview of employee complaints (including number, nature, and outcome) during the past fiscal year, as part of a report you've been asked to give to the company's Board of Directors. Victor's assistant, Ari, a nonexempt employee, is working with Victor to compile the information and prepare charts and graphs.

On the Monday prior to the Friday due date, Victor and Ari learn that two of the company's manufacturing plants have extensive updates to the information they had previously provided. Ari works late on Tuesday night and Wednesday night with Victor to revise and finalize the report's charts and graphs. After completing the report late Wednesday night, they mutually agree that Ari can take off Thursday and Friday of the following week as "comp days" in lieu of overtime pay. Ari is thrilled because this will allow him to take off four days in a row and fly out-of-state to visit elderly relatives, and because the two comp days total more hours than the number of overtime hours he actually worked. Ari buys nonrefundable plane tickets that night.

The following Monday, you take Ari and Victor to lunch to thank them for their hard work and the terrific job they did on the report. Ari responds that: "it was late nights, but I was happy to help out. It was really interesting and helpful for me to see how the reports for the Board are put together. I'm really grateful to Victor for the comp days this Thursday and Friday; I'm visiting my grandparents and they are so excited that I'm coming." Victor, somewhat embarrassed by the revelation, explains that they could not have completed the report without Ari's extra hours due to the fact that two of the plants provided such a large volume of revised information at the last minute.

Victor: What should Victor have done in light of the conflict between the memo from the Chief Operating Officer and the need to complete his report by the deadline? Was granting Ari "comp time" appropriate in light of the circumstances? What enforcement action, if any, should be taken as to Victor?

Ari: Should the company pay Ari for the overtime hours he worked? Should the offer of comp time be revoked? What enforcement action, if any, should be taken as to Ari?

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

Victor 1 Handling the Conflict Victor should have communicated with HR or the Chief Operating Officer about the conflict between the memo restricting ... View the full answer