To: Maya Smith (Director of Mayo Clinic Office Administration)

From: Laura Taormina (Office Administration)

Subject: Abuse of Unpaid Break Time

Dear Maya,
I am writing this email on behalf of our Mayo Clinic Outpatient office. As the office

administrator at our Southside location, it has come to my attention that employees are beginning

to abuse the 15-minute-long policy of unpaid lunch breaks. Attached is a memo that breaks down

what exactly is happening and possible solutions to the problem for us as a company to consider.

These are merely recommendations and will not be decided upon without your approval, but I

wanted to lay out some possible suggestions for us as a company. Below you will find some

solutions to this issue we are encountering I look forward to your consideration of these new

policies and hope we can find one solution that benefits our employees and our company.

Please send your feedback when it is convenient for you

Sincerely,

Laura Taormina

Office Administrator at Mayo Clinic

1111 Jacksonville Drive
Jacksonville, FL 22222
N01500928@unf.edu

Abuse of Paid Break Policy Memo

Our office has been highly flexible regarding lunch breaks. Each employee can take a 15-minute

paid break, a 30-minute unpaid break, or an hour-long unpaid break. Scheduling blocks off a
whole two-hour slot each weekday for employee break time. The hours are from 11 pm-1 pm. In

the past few months as administrator, it has come to my attention that employees are abusing the

“15-minute max” time limit for their paid break. On numerous occasions, employees have

returned 20 or more minutes late after supposedly “running errands.” I want our employees to

enjoy work, and breaks allow for that, but consistent abuse of this resource hurts our company.

Below you will find some solutions to the problem of abusing our 15-minute break policy..

Solution 1: Get rid of paid breaks. Getting rid of paid breaks is possible and may be needed if

this continues, though I would prefer this not to be our conclusion. One of the benefits of

working for our company is the 15-minute paid break option, and getting rid of it would greatly

take a toll on our company which could cause further issues. This is still an option to consider,

and I feel as if the pros and cons should still be weighed.

Solution 2: Start rigorously enforcing a 15-minute-only policy. Unfortunately, because of the

abuse of the 15-minute time frame for breaks, enforcement of this policy needs to be taken

seriously. To do this, a chart of tardies should be developed. Each employee will receive four

tardies to use over six months. If the number of tardies is three in 6 months, the employee will be

written up and given a warning. If the number of tardies exceeds four in 6 months, the employee

will be let go from the company. The goal is to not have this problem continue to occur, so by

strictly enforcing it, the employee will become less likely to abuse paid break time.

Conclusion:Once our company makes an appropriate decision about the abuse of our 15-minute

paid break policy, I believe we can positively incorporate our new solutions for a healthy and

positive work environment. I appreciate your time to consider these options and hope we can

decide upon one that benefits us and positively reflects on our company as a whole and how we

trest our employees. .