Communicating with employees in a small business

June 03, 2025
by a searcher in United States
I own a small store that I acquired about a year ago. I don't work in the store - it's just a side hustle. I promoted one of the workers to store manager, and she has been a tremendous help. But I feel like she is still in the mindset of "friend and coworker" rather than manager. She recently asked to increase PTO for several of the staff arguing "it won't cost anything because we all cover for each other." My immediate thought was "if people are out and everyone else can cover without excess hours, there is already excess expense ... now we would just give the money away rather than forcing them to be in to earn it."
But I guess there is no additional expense since we'd probably be paying people anyway (I have gotten very significant pushback when suggesting we cut back hours during the off season). I was a little frustrated, though, because I suggested maybe giving people the PTO but paying it at 1/2 the rate thinking we could both benefit, but "no one liked that idea." I felt like there wasn't much of a give and take ... it felt more like "just take."
I'm not sure any of them need to be there, and I can't afford to spend a lot more time looking for people if they decide to revolt.
Any suggestions for how to respond?
from Pennsylvania State University in Philadelphia, PA, USA
from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN, USA