Tips to Make a Fair Work Schedule on a Dairy

A headache for most dairy managers is putting together an employee work schedule. Trying to be considerate, but also properly putting a schedule together that aids in the farm’s mission statement is easier said than done. Jennie Everson with Agri-Placement Services, Inc., says that one way to try and please every employee is to share unfavorable shifts to create a happy medium.

“Unfortunately, we cannot please everybody all the time, but we can attempt to prioritize fairness,” she says. 

Everson offers the following suggestions:

Hours:

• Every employee will say when they start that they want the most hours they can get, but there is a point they will just burn out. Also, if they are given too few hours, they will look for another side job or just leave altogether when they have a better opportunity.
• In the Midwest, the sweet spot for the number of hours seems to be 55-60 to allow time to rest and socialize. Out east, 72 hours had been the gold standard for a long time, however, New York for example is slowly introducing overtime laws.  

Days off:

• Days off are extremely important and we should try when at all possible, to give at least one day off a week.
• We find this so important (as with the number of hours and minimum pay) that we add this in our placement contracts. It really does help with retention.
• Rotating undesired shifts (like Saturday nights) between all workers so everyone must take a turn working that shift can be a helpful compromise.

Holidays:

• Holidays are a hard time to schedule workers. However, not all employees are in the same situation. Some are established here with families, others are in the country for a set amount of time, with hopes to make as much as possible to build a house or set up a business and then return home. With this being said, not all employees will view working on a holiday the same. Some would rather be working and busy if they are away from loved ones and homesick too.
• When scheduling major holiday shifts, ask for volunteers first. When needed, rotate shift responsibilities for workers that are required to work major holidays. As with everything, communication is important to reduce hurt feeling, so everyone understands that the scheduler is doing their best to be fair.
• Some farms offer incentive pay on holidays.
• Birthdays are another place where an owner can boost morale by offering that day off – even possibly with pay.  

Shifts AM/PM:

• During the onboarding process, it is important to be clear on which shift the new worker will be working, even if it may be different than during the training period. Being clear in the beginning is always best as not all people are able/ willing to work certain shifts.  
• Some farms do a rotating night/day shift. For example, every other month the PM crew will move to days and vice versa. While this may work on some operations, it can be hard for employees to be switching too, even if in theory it is for their own benefit.
• In my opinion, it is best to establish a work crew on each shift.  
• When a job opens up, I think it is advisable to allow requesting a shift transfer to current employees before hiring a new employee for the open position. Night shift wears on workers. I get many calls from employees looking for a new job because they were working nights for months or years and couldn’t get to the day shift. The perception of many workers is the night shift ages a person as it may be harder to eat and sleep normally.

“Overall communication between the owner and the workers is very important to be as fair to all as possible while still getting the work done,” Evenson says. “Regular in-person employee meetings are a helpful tool to allow workers a forum to voice any concerns or accommodations needed. As well as it is a time just to explain everything clearly when the whole farm team is present and have an opportunity for questions.”