Wedding season is well and truly upon us.  You may think that the Royal Wedding has caused enough disruption but spare a thought for those employers who are unlucky enough to have a member of staff getting married some time in the near future.

Of course, this is a subject dear to my heart.  As our wedding day approaches and I juggle my ever-expanding wedding to do list with making sure that the actual work is getting done, I have even more sympathy for those employers with soon-to-be-married employees!

Worst case scenario

Blatant theft.  That’s the worst case scenario – theft of company time and company property.  From printing orders of service and sending out invitations using the company’s franking machine to spending hours on numerous wedding blogs, the soon-to-be-wed employee can be guilty of stealing from the company.  The question is what should the employer do about it, if indeed he/she should do anything?

What to do?

Option one is do nothing.  After all, the wedding will soon be here and then things will go back to normal.  If you practice a “head in the sand” approach to managing and employing staff, this is the one for you.

Option two is to write a policy to cover just this eventuality.  You could call it your "zero tolerance approach to planning of weddings".  To be inclusive, however, you'd need to make sure it covers civil ceremonies.  What about christenings - they can take some serious organising.  Hmmm, to be on the safe side, why not call it "private use of company facilities for significant event planning"? 

Option three is the better choice but it does involve gathering your facts first.  Make sure you have proof that the bride or groom printed their entire order of service and made use of the “booklet” function on the photocopier.  Two hundred times.  Preferably a copy of said order of service which they left on the printer or a print out of the photocopier log showing the unusually high number of booklets printed.  Also, have proof that he or she is visiting wedding-related websites during work time.

Next, you need to speak to the individual concerned.  Choose a quiet time and speak to them in private, as you would with any personal matter.  Explain that you understand they have limited time available for wedding planning but using company resources to do so is not acceptable.  Let them off with a warning but remind them that if they choose to continue, you will have no option but to take a more formal disciplinary approach.

Perhaps you could compromise and offer half a day off (unpaid)?  That way your employee has time to visit the printers or contribute to wedding blogs without their work suffering.

Best case scenario

At some point, the bride or groom is going to be stressed about their upcoming nuptials.  Planning a wedding rates highly on the stress scale, along with moving house and starting a new job.  That stress may affect their normal behaviour which in turn will have a knock-on effect on their colleagues.  With luck, you won’t have a bridezilla (or the male equivalent) on your hands but you do need to be aware of the cause of the behavioural change.

What to do?

You may not need to “do” anything.  Other than acknowledge the fact that your employee is feeling a bit more stressed than usual.  He or she will appreciate the fact that you care enough to notice.  Oh, and make sure you organise a collection in plenty of time!