As summer quickly comes upon us, so do new liabilities in the work place. The potential for liability issues increases as the temperature heats up outside, and employers can find themselves facing a whole new range of issues. From teenagers looking for a summer job to skimpy summer styles and increased vacation requests, employers can find themselves facing a greater chance of sexual harrasment claims and without a full staff. Here are some tips to make sure that the heat of the summer doesn’t heat up your workplace.
Prevent harrassment: As the temperature increases outside, the length of skirts decrease inside. Many employers have a more relaxed summer dress code, which can improve employee morale, but at the same time it can be a breeding ground for sexual harrassment. To prevent this, employers should remind their employess of antiharassment and other employee conduct rules throughout the summer.
“Regardless of a company’s appearnace standards, it is imperative to have a solid written policy that is consistently enforced, especially during the summer months when causual dress could lead to a sexual harrasment lawsuit”Christopher Boman, Fisher & Phillips LLP.
Schedule vacation requests in advance: The summer may bring more vacation requests than average, so it is important to be prepared for this so as not to be left short staffed. Employers should ensure that the employee handbook has a section outlining their vacation policy, and make sure to include that vacation requests must be made in advance, approved by management, and that they can be denied if the request would “create a hardship for the company.”
Know child labor issues: As school wraps up for students, many of them will begin looking for summer jobs to make some extra money and gain experience. Hiring employees under the age of 18 means that specific labor laws must be followed, such as limitations on the number of hours an individual may work within a set period of time. Be sure to be aware of your state’s child labor laws in order to avoid potential legal troubles.
Be aware of the “Summer Flu:” With warm weather and sunshine comes the opportunity for a day out of the office and a day at the beach. Be aware that employees may seem to get “sick” on the perfect summer day. To prevent this, employers may want to consider enforcing a policy that requires a doctor’s note for an unexpected illness. Employers should make sure that all employees are aware of their sick day policy, and be sure to enforce the policy consistently.
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HRSentry is excited to bring the mobile application “HR At Your Fingertips” to the iPad(“HR At Your Fingertips For iPad”). Selected as one of the few applications to be part of the iPad store grand opening on March 3, “HR At Your Fingertips For iPad” is now ranked in the top 20 apps for business. Learn more about it now at www.hratyourfingertips.com, available for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad!
We are already planning new releases with increased features and more content. Information will be posted as it becomes available.
About the app:
Managing human resources is a complicated and essential task for small business owners. Sometimes you are not at your computer to find information. We at HRSentry are dedicated to giving users the tools they need to successfully address these issues during their busy day! With the surge in mobile browsing, providing an HR app that gives access to some of these resources fills a void currently not being addressed.
We are happy to announce the release of our new iPhone app, “HR At Your Fingertips”. For $1.99 This app will give users access to:
*Over 270 terms and definitions
*Essential federal law definitions, qualifying events, and exceptions
*Complete guide to creating a compliant handbook
*Resources kept up to date by a dedicated team of HR professionals
You can purchase “HR At Your Fingertips” today through the Apple App store (iTunes). This is available for the iPhone 3.0 or higher.
With the economy causing families across the country to cut costs, one of the most common sacrifices being made is preventive care and a healthy lifestyle. Statistics show that during recessions Americans tend to eat more unhealthy, cheap fast food, and exercise less. A recent report released by Nursing Times looks at all the studies done on health during a recession and draws the following conclusion:
“The evidence from studies looking at the closure of factories is that everybody who lost their job saw their health go down regardless of how healthy they were to start with. The mere threats of unemployment and its twin evil homelessness damage health. ‘It seems to be to do with stress which, we know, has numerous physiological consequences on the cardiovascular system and the immune system,’ says Professor Wilkinson. ‘Sometimes people liken it to rapid ageing’…the weight of evidence from studies in Japan, the US and Europe shows mortality and morbidity rise in hard times, especially for those who lose their jobs.”
As a result of these trends, employers are starting to focus in on programs that will help to reduce costs in this area. Implementing a program however is just the beginning. In order for a wellness program to truly reach it potential in savings for both the employee and employer there must be adequate marketing and follow-up. Here are some tips from the Wellness Council of America that will help you to maximize benefits:
1. Regularly tracking participation.
2. Monitoring participant satisfaction.
3. Documenting improvements in knowledge, attitudes, skills, and behaviors.
4. Assessing changes in biometric measures (e.g., body weight, strength, flexibility,
cholesterol levels, blood pressure, etc.).
5. Assessing and monitoring the health status of “at-risk” employees.
6. Measuring changes in both the physical and cultural environment (e.g., policies,
benefits, working conditions, etc.).
7. Monitoring the impact of wellness on key productivity indicators (e.g.,
absenteeism, turnover, morale, etc.).
8. Analyzing cost effectiveness, cost savings, and return on investment.
You can access the entire eight page checklist as well as other resources to help in developing and increasing your wellness program in an effective way log in to your HRSentry account and search for “wellness programs”.
As the recession continues and the job market weakens, those “lucky” people who have not been laid off are feeling the side effects. Each time an organization is forced to let go of an employee their repsonsibilities are passed on to other workers, often times with little to no training. This leads to longer hours, more work, and many times no raises or even pay cuts. While these overburdened employees are much better off then their unemployed counterparts, the situation can be discouraging.
A recent poll conducted by the Adecco Group showed that 54% of employed americans plan to look for a new job once the economy improves. This means for employers that it is important to stay connected with employees and try to give them resources and opportunities to learn the new skills required for tasks being forced upon them. It also is important to have honest discussions about the company as well as their future. By ignoring employees during this hard time organizations will end up losing their best talent once the job market improves.
So what to do in the meantime? Some advice given to employees who find themselves overworked and underpaid as reported on CNN:
Disgruntled workers shouldn’t necessarily switch jobs the first chance they get, said Joanie Ruge, senior vice president of Adecco Group North America. Before jumping ship, Ruge recommends that workers approach their employers first. “If you’re feeling a little bit burnt out you should talk to your employer about flexibility or working from home,” she said.
As conditions improve, business owners may be willing to offer flexible work hours, telecommuting or other perks to hold on to their top talent. In the meantime, “try to play chess when the world is handing you checkers,” suggests Rusty Rueff, career and workplace expert for Glassdoor.com. Workers struggling with increased workloads can take this opportunity to partner with their coworkers, become a team leader, take on more responsibility at a higher level and expand their skill set.
“This is a tremendous time to experiment in the jobs they are in,” Rueff said. “Make the most out of it.”
Every year workers spend countless hours filling out and perfecting their tournament brackets and keeping pace up to the minute with all the action. There is a lot of talk about the impact that this process has on the productivity of an organization and its workers. Experts and researchers are always moaning and groaning about the money lost and what needs to be done to cut down on the time spent with the brackets and games. You can read reports published by Careerbuilder and other business resources listing off facts and figures with cynical conclusions being drawn about the negative impact it is having. While people may indeed be spending paid time watching and following the tournament, there are definitely good things that can be said as well. The office pools and “watercooler” conversations provide valuable bonding time between employees that many times involve management as well. Fighting the event will more than likely result only in employees sneaking around(March Madness OnDemand features a “boss” button that has a fake spreadsheet that will be pulled up to make it appear you are doing work) and feeling ‘snubbed’ by management. As much as it would be easiest to endorse these activities seen as commonplace and harmless, the law prohibits workplace gambling. Many organizations include a policy stating cases will be dealt with on a discretionary basis thinking they will be able to say they have a policy but not enforce it. Organizations should recognize that even when a policy is in place if it is shown that they knew gambling took place they can be held accountable. While there is no clear solution for this issue it does raise some interesting questions. So as the pools fill up and the brackets become littered with scratch marks, here are some interesting figures to think about.
Over 40 million workers have participated in office pools conducted during paid hours
Almost 2 million of those will watch games online from their desk
If these workers spend only 10 minutes a day(A decidedly low number) on the march madness festivities the total loss over the 16 days would be $1.7 billion
