can I ask employees to stay late during busy times?

[ResidentialBusiness]

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.

A reader writes:

I own and operate a small business. The workflow is typically manageable within a 40-hour work week. However, occasionally an important project comes in with an especially tight deadline and usually affects a different person each time.

I have difficulty asking employees to go the extra mile for that day or two when needed. I’m not even sure what constitutes a fair request. What are the “rules” about this? I almost always decide that I will take on whatever extra work is necessary myself, rather than ask for any extra push from employees. My logic is that I will “save it up” for when something is really critical. Of course that day never comes. Taking on the additional work from employees in this way has become distracting from my primary job.

Hiring an additional person is not an option because the extra work does not always pop up in the same operational area, and typically the work overflow requires deep knowledge of a particular project. (Also, all but one of my employees are salaried exempt.)

Under these conditions, is it appropriate to ask for an occasional extra push? If so, how do I go about asking for that?

I answer this question over at Inc. today, where I’m revisiting letters that have been buried in the archives here from years ago (and sometimes updating/expanding my answers to them). You can read it here.

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