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I live in a building with a live-in Super, building manager and a Board of 5 directors, of which I am one. Can anyone tell me protocol on how you handle when the building Super goes on vacation? I would think the building should have ample notification of the vacation and that the entire board should be made away of this vacation by the manager. I'm sure there are emergencies when a Super needs to take care of something that comes up and may not be able to give ample notice, but shouldn't the Board know when the Super is in and when he is away? In his absense our senior maintenance guy was on call.
Also, isn't a live-in Super technically on call 24/7? I've heard ours does not allow our front desk to call them at certain times. He has a wife and a small child and they live just off the lobby. The wife is employed in our office, which when she was hired, was thought by the building manager to be a good idea. Many shareholders were very upset by this and felt it a conflict of interest. She had the baby in the office with her at times.
I'm just seeing the kinds of situations that exist out there. I'm not micromanaging anything. I'm sure the super lets our office manager know when he is away, but a simple email to the board takes no more than 2 minutes to send. Just seeing how the rest of the world operates. Thank you for your input.
You raise several important topics.
In a building staffed with both a live-in superintendent and an onsite management office staffed with a building manager and administrator (superintendent’s wife), the Board of Managers should be informed in advance of all schedule vacation days. This is especially important for you because the vacation affects two of your staff members. I would recommend (1) at each Board meeting the superintendent and building manger alert you to vacation time they will be taking prior to the next Board meeting and (2) you limit the consecutive vacation days that your superintendent can take without prior Board approval.
Live-in superintendent is technically on call 24/7 so that the Board of Managers is in compliance with NYC Housing Maintenance Code (chapter 2, subchapter 2, article 13).
Staffing is within your control as a Board of Managers. As a firm we don’t employee family members of current employees and recommend buildings we manage follow a similar policy. Living where you work is part of the superintendent’s position. This is hard. Adding another family member to the same work place can make issues multiply. It can also make your building feel more like a community. Your Board needs to make the decision and move forward.
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I am a resident manager/superintendent and any time I go on vacation I inform the BOD, and also the property manager. I make sure the staff have ample supplies to carry out their duties and also go over what they should do in case of an emergency. (supers are entitled to vacation). In addition I post emergency contact numbers at the desk (which would also include some supers close by).
As regards on call 24/7 technically yes, for emergencies. Regarding the super his wife and child, not a good idea to bring baby to work. I would say is the work being done or are you just micromanaging?
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