'That's the rule we have – it's not a joke,' says Joe Biden in podcast
Employees of United States President Joe Biden are under instructions to take time off and attend to personal matters - or they could get fired.
This rule was revealed by Biden himself on the How to Find Purpose podcast with British author Jay Shetty, where the president said he had this policy in place since he was a senator.
Citing one instance, Biden recalled that he had asked one "invaluable" staffer who was knowledgeable of an upcoming Supreme Court hearing to go home after he found that the employee was having personal problems.
"I found out that he was having trouble at home. [So] I said, 'I want you to go home. Don't come to the hearing,'" the US president said on the podcast.
The employee attempted to resist, but Biden insisted that he should go home saying: "[I told him] go home and you know why, because I would go home. I have 1,000 bosses but only one me."
He shared another instance back when he was vice president, when he discovered that an employee was "having some trouble at home."
"I said, ‘If you don't go home, I'm going to fire you. Go home,’" the president recalled telling the employee.
The president emphasised that personal relationships are a "lot more important" than what his employees are doing for him.
"So that's the rule we have — not a joke," he said.
According to Biden, his employees don't even need to tell him why they can't report to work.
"All you got to say is ‘I'm not going to be in,’" he said. "If it turns out you’re playing games with me, I'll learn but I know you too well."
Encouraging time off
The US president's remarks came as employers around the world report that their employees aren't taking their time off, which could potentially have long-term consequences in organisations.
In North America, 37% of employees said they plan to take less time off, while 18% won't be taking a vacation this year either due to economic uncertainty or understaffing following recent widespread layoffs.
But not taking a break could have "devastating consequences" for both employees and employers, according to Viktor Grekov, business productivity expert and founder of the OKR Software company Oboard.
In fact, recent research from Ringover revealed that 73% of employees in the US have suffered from burnout in their current role, with 25.9% pinning the blame on bad work-life balance.
Grekov previously urged managers to be an example to staff when it comes to taking breaks at work.
"Take your vacation, make clear who to contact in your absence, set your boundaries before you leave, and offer the same respect to your colleagues when they're away," Grekov said.