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Hi ya party people,

Happy Friday to us!! 

We made it. Barely, probably, but we made it…and that counts. 😁

I on PTO till Tuesday so that's giving me some hope.

For this week’s Q&A duo, we have someone who is going ham on overtime and needs to log out and go home, then on the complete other end of the emotional spectrum, we have a company trying to figure out how to actually care for a global team that is being hit differently by the state of the world right now, without saying the wrong thing. No pressure!

It’s all relevant, and you can bet we have thoughts about it.

Pull up a seat and let’s get into it!

P.S. Ready to submit a question? Send it in here, and you might be featured next Friday! 👀

✨ Don't forget: You can always vent, celebrate a win, or find support in Safe Space

✨ Don't forget: You can always vent, celebrate a win, or find support in Safe Space

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✍🏾 We have an employee using too much overtime and want to know how to reel that in please.

Context: Well over ten hours of overtime above coworkers

📣 Stephanie Slysz, Director of People & Culture @ Galvanize USA:

Overtime is meant as a stick for the employer, not a carrot for the employee. If someone is consistently working far more hours than peers, it usually points to either a workload that’s too heavy or a manager who needs more support overseeing that employee.

The manager should be aware this is happening—are they approving timesheets? Ideally, overtime is discussed and approved in advance; if not, it may be time to formalize that in a company policy. There should be a conversation between the employee and manager about workload, priorities, and whether this level of overtime is truly necessary. If it’s not, adjustments should be made: shifting tasks, providing more support to the employee and manager, or considering additional staff.

📣 RyanMae Pepin, VP of People & Culture @ Blackthorn.io:

There are a few things here to unpack, why is the employee using so much overtime? There may be a need to expand headcount if that many hours are truly needed. Additionally, you could set up a "any overtime over X hours per week must have approval by XYZ"; this will give you insight into what the person is working on with the hours, possibly deter the employee from having as much overtime, and give insight to why the employee may need support/accomodation if it is taking them longer to do tasks that their peers do.

📣 Angela Hansen, Human Resources and Payroll Manager @ Elation Property Management:

We have it documented in our Employee Handbook that all employees are required to sign when hired or when updates are made. You definitely want to find out the reason for the OT and explain the approval process. While worked hours can't go unpaid, disciplinary action can be taken if the policy isn't followed. 

There could be a number of reasons for overtime occurring, including the possibility that they are picking up the slack for another employee or a position that has been abandoned and has not been filled. As always, document, document, document.

Safe Space members can join this discussion here. Not a member yet? Apply to join here.

✍🏾 We have a global organization with team members whose lives are impacted by the political landscape right now in varying degrees. We don't always address it broadly but wonder how we can in meaningful ways. How do we help individual employees we do know are impacted mentally and emotionally?

Context: About 75 employees, series b funding secured, tech company in data security, we have government customers so we have to be nuanced about what we say publically. we have a wellness advisor program where ever employee has 1:1 conversations with an advocate that supports their well being and growth like a professional therapist and its often where we learn about the impact if people volunteer that information.

📣 Stephanie Lemek, Founder & CEO @ The Wounded Workforce:

First, let's just take a second to applaud the availability and use of wellness advisors for your team! That one-on-one, confidential support is one of the most impactful resources you can provide- because like you say- we all have different challenges, needs and beliefs.

A lot of times, we feel like we have to make a public statement on EVERYTHING as HR leaders, and the intent is good, but it can be overwhelming for you and your teams and tricky to navigate. A simple internal message from leadership that says "we know many of you are carrying things right now that extend well beyond this workplace, and we see you" -- that's not political, that's just human.

Your managers are potentially your biggest untapped resource here. Supporting employees at the team level means training managers to notice and open a door, not fix or diagnose. Invest in tools and resources to help your managers support on the frontline of those challenging and human conversations too!

📣 Tammi Burnett, Director of People and Culture @ Rainforest Action Network:

I've found that publicly acknowledging it or sending a private message is the best way. If the impact is happening to multiple people or is broad, I put up an all-staff Slack, and if it's just one person, I send a personal Slack. "we know this is happening, please take care of yourself, here are resources, let me know what kind of support you need". and i also ping their manager to make sure they're looped in and can support. 

For example, I might make a public post when the US Supreme Court passes anti-transgender legislation because we have multiple trans and gender nonconforming staff, but send a personal message when one of our staff in another country is affected by a natural disaster.

Safe Space members can join this discussion here. Not a member yet? Apply to join here.

🚨 ON YOUR RADAR

🤖 Every HR conference has an AI panel and almost none of them say anything useful. On April 22nd’s HR Therapy, I'm bringing the data on where HR teams really stand with AI, as well as what's working and what's failing. Come talk it out with me!

📊 Curious about the top priorities for 1,000+ HR executives in 2026? Lattice’s State of People Strategy Report spotlights the critical shifts and challenges defining the modern workplace. If you’re looking to benchmark your goals against industry peers and see how they’re navigating change, consider this your cheatsheet!*

🎧 Safe Space member Jessica Winder dropped a new private podcast! Check out what she has to say off the record. 

✍🏽 Safe Space member Tara Turk Haynes has a survey out to collect stories on helpful Allyship. If you have a story please share!! 

*This one is brought to you by one of my amazing brand partners

📝 RESOURCE OF THE WEEK

Each week I feature a resource I love from the Safe Space library that I believe would be relatable to this week's newsletter topic.

This week, we’ve got a program readiness audit. Check it out HERE ⬇️

FRIDAY FUN

RAISED BY LINDSAY HUBBARD!!

Not but fr why is this my reaction?? Working on controlling my face. 

That's all for this week! I hope you enjoyed! If you have any thoughts, please let me know. I'm allll ears.

Reminder: Today is FRIDAY. 🙏

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