We have a highly compensated employee that manager ment does not want to work 40 hours so they let him come and go as he pleases.  He has a schedule but does not follow it.  He comes in early or late without notice and takes however long lunch he wants.  He does stay until the last person leaves for the night.  I feel powerless to do or say anything to management about this employee.  Any suggestions on what I should do?

heatherv:

We have a highly compensated employee that manager ment does not want to work 40 hours so they let him come and go as he pleases.  He has a schedule but does not follow it.  He comes in early or late without notice and takes however long lunch he wants.  He does stay until the last person leaves for the night.  I feel powerless to do or say anything to management about this employee.  Any suggestions on what I should do?

 What does your Employee Handbook say about attendance, tardiness, leaving early?  If you have a policy in place that addresses this issue, then it should be no problem to approach the employee's manager and refer to the policy.  Although management wants to keep the employee under 40 hours, they need to enforce company attendance policies with regard to the schedule that was established.

heatherv:

We have a highly compensated employee that manager ment does not want to work 40 hours so they let him come and go as he pleases.  He has a schedule but does not follow it.  He comes in early or late without notice and takes however long lunch he wants.  He does stay until the last person leaves for the night.  I feel powerless to do or say anything to management about this employee.  Any suggestions on what I should do?

If this person is highly compensated, they are quite possibly exempt.  How do you know they are paid by time (even if they do clock in and out)?

Perhaps even more importantly, why do you care?  Do you have responsibility for this person's schedule or performance?  Is this person costing the company money by their actions?  Are you certain they don't have a "come and go as you wish as long as you get your work done" agreement with their supervisor?  Or, to put it another way, are you aware of how the supervisor would feel if they knew what this person was doing AND why do you think that the supervisor is not aware?

Have the managers come to you regarding his attendance? Do you have a policy about time and attendance? This is where you should start. Are you in charge of payroll and notice his long lunches? If not then this should be your HR issue not yours.