I am also amazed at the different corporate cultures created among businesses of the same type.  For example, rank and file employees in one glass company appear to be happy and loose, while those in a similar company are wound-up tight and jumpy.

Workplace stress affects people differently.  For this week’s safety topic, I thought you might enjoy looking at some ways to reduce the stress levels among your staff.  

If you would like to learn more about workplace stress and how you can reduce it (and get more effective employees to boot!), please refer to the attached Safety Bulletin.  If you still have questions, feel free to call the Employers Resource Safety and Loss Control Manager at 817-996-3563.

Which brings us to this week’s topic.  When is the last time that you or one of your employees actually used a portable fire extinguisher?  I mean they actually pulled the pin, aimed at the fire, and discharged the contents of the extinguisher at the fire.  If you can’t remember ever having that experience, it’s time for a little practice.  The attached Safety Bulletin contains information on the different types of portable extinguishers available today, their specific uses, and how they operate.  I want to challenge you to put this information into practical use by actually discharging a portable extinguisher at a “fire”.  A large cardboard box or plastic garbage can turned on its side makes a great target for the contents of the extinguisher.  The practice is best done outdoors on a calm day.

After reviewing the information contained in the handouts, put the information into practice by allowing employees to actually discharge an extinguisher.  Most are amazed at the power of the discharge.  Most learn that it is more difficult to aim the contents of the extinguisher than they thought.  Some are amazed at just how heavy the full extinguisher is.

For the cost of re-filling an extinguisher or replacing a throw-away unit, your employees can gain valuable, practical experience that will help ensure that they respond correctly when the real emergency occurs.

If you would like to learn more about fire extinguishers and how to test and use them at your workplace, please refer to the attached Safety Bulletin.  If you still have questions, feel free to call the Employers Resource Safety and Loss Control Manager at 817-996-3563.

Slip and fall injuries are among the most common of all workplace injuries and they are also among the most serious.  As we age, our bodies begin to lose the ability to make quick corrections to remain upright when the footing suddenly turns to Jello.  The resulting crash to the floor can often result in broken bones, serious tendon and ligament damage, and muscle strains – not to mention damage to the ego of the person taking the tumble.

If you would like to learn more about how to prevent slips, trips and falls at your workplace, please refer to the attached Safety Bulletin.  If you still have questions, feel free to call the Employers Resource Safety and Loss Control Manager at 817-996-3563.

STAY SAFE! – (and upright)

Since the change in presidential administration occurred two years or so ago, the new Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis has been initiating sweeping changes in the way OSHA goes about its job.  She was even quoted as saying,

“Let me be clear, the DOL is back in the enforcement business”.

One of the BEST ways to protect your business against the possibility of citations and fines is to perform an internal “Safety Audit” of your business.  A safety audit is simply taking a serious look at your office, shop, vehicles, warehouse, and anywhere else that your employees might labor.  The purpose is to identify hazards; unsafe conditions, procedures, equipment and the like.  A safety audit should also ensure that you have on hand the written employee training programs that OSHA requires for your type of business as well as documentation that proves you have been conducting employee safety training on a regular basis.

Instead of a safety training topic for next week, why not use the attached Safety Audit form as an example and have your managers perform an audit of your operation?  Once the audit is complete, gather the senior troops together and see where your program is succeeding, and where it needs to be improved.

Remember, with the increased activity of the compliance officers, it is not a matter of IF you will receive a visit from OSHA, but WHEN…

If you would like to learn more about safety audits at your workplace, please call the Employers Resource Safety and Loss Control Manager at 817-996-3563.

Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to what companies are offering.  According to Marcee Harris Schwartz, the New York-based director of BDO USA’s Flex program, “We do not think of flexibility as a set of options, or an employee benefit, or even a program.  We really see it as a business strategy—a strategy that can help employees manage their own working life but that also can be used as a tool to help teams and leaders run their business.”

A good example of how implementing a workplace flexibility strategy can help the bottom line can be found at Margolin, Winer & Evens, an accounting firm in Garden City, N.Y..  The company established a summer sabbatical program for the company’s 200 employees in 2009, and allows people to take time off to do whatever they like.  Under the accounting firm’s sabbatical initiative, employees must take a minimum of four weeks off work, every year.  They use their vacation time first, and are reimbursed for the remaining time off at 20% of their normal salary.  The sabbatical program offers the firm an option to laying off workers during the slower summer months, while saving scarce labor dollars. 

Best Practices

Experts on flexible work arrangements offered the following advice:

1. Change the culture, not just the tools.  While the technology is key to a successful flexibility program, it is also very important to bring in new management and leadership skills.  Many managers in the U.S. learned how to supervise employees by “walking around the office”.  This works well in a standard office environment, but doesn’t “fit” the virtual workplace.  As a result, management needs to learn how to manage results, using tools like performance management, that focus on company goals.
2. Build a business case for workplace flexibility.   It is critical to have managers that champion the flexible work environment, and are willing to partner with HR and other groups that are part of the change, so the business case (and benefits) are clear to everyone.  Options like telecommuting and compressed workweeks might increase employee job satisfaction and morale, but they won’t succeed in the long run without executives and line managers that buy into the plan(s).
3.  Pay attention to generational differences.  Flexible work benefits are definitely a key to attracting and retaining talent today.  For example, Generation Y see’s career and work as important, but not necessarily more important that having a life outside of the office.  Meanwhile, baby-boomers want different career options and life options as well.  Most boomers are looking at remaining in the workforce longer due the difficult economy, and the fact that many are dealing with elder care and child care simultaneously.
4. Train managers.  Since the most important relationship in a successful company is between he employee and their supervisor, it is absolutely critical to train management on how to best manage employees with flexible work arrangements.  The best solutions provide a win-win for the team, the organization and the individuals.
5. Encourage different approaches.  One of the most significant hurdles facing an organization that wants to implement a flexible work environment, is the question of “equality”.  It can be tough when the boss gets stuck in “being fair to everyone” mode.  Unfortunately, there are jobs that simply cannot be successfully completed virtually, so the best idea is to let each work group determine their best solution together.
6. Start small.  The best way to implement a flexibility program is to kick-off a pilot program that has clear-cut metrics for the outcomes you are looking for.  Once you know what to measure and how to get the data, your company can roll out a larger, more comprehensive strategy.

Based on a BNA article, written by Rhonda Smith

These claims are particularly common in businesses with historically low wages, such as restaurants and agricultural related industries. Studies have shown that wage determination for employees that depend on tips has become one of the most complex areas of wage and overtime hour law; both at the state and federal level. Unfortunately, due to the variation found from state to state relative to tip credits, tip pooling and service charges, the potential (and complexity) for legal exposure continues to grow. Additionally, due to the increased use of contract employees in the high-wage sector (including information technology), employee misclassifications have led to an increase in overtime class-action lawsuits, resulting in multi-million dollar settlements.

And it’s getting easier for employees to pursue wage and overtime claims…

This past May, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released a free time sheet application, which can be easily downloaded to the 45.5 million Smartphone users in America. The app was designed to help employees track their work time, breaks, overtime and wages owed. It also highlights information about wage and hour laws at the federal level, and provides DOL enforcement contacts. The agency notes that “wage and hour information tracked independently by employees could prove invaluable during a government investigation”.

If you would like learn more about what you can do to protect your company from wage and overtime claims, please call the Employers Resource Human Resources expert, at 919-573-4470.

Tonya L.
Office Manager

Using progressive discipline can help you get employees back on track.  If done correctly, progressive discipline can:

     * Allow managers to intervene and correct employee behavior immediately
     * Improve communication between managers and employees
     * Achieve higher performance and productivity from their employees
     * Ensure consistency and fairness in dealing with employee problems, and
     * Lay the groundwork for fair, legally defensible employment termination

While progressive discipline is not required by state or federal law, using this method of discipline will help your company stay out of legal trouble.  Progressive discipline requires you to let employees know what you expect, to be fair, consistent and objective in imposing discipline, to include employees in the process of improvement and to document your actions and decisions properly.  By following these actions, you’ll ensure that employees who are unable or unwilling to improve won’t have a legal case against you.  And, if you are consistently respectful to employees, few of them will be motivated to sue.

If you would like to learn more about progressive discipline at your workplace, please call the Employers Resource Human Resources expert, at 919-573-4470.

When I was a kid – I’m not saying how long ago, but Beaver Cleaver was a baby – nobody worried much about mosquito bites, wasp stings, poison ivy, chiggers, no-see-‘ums, and such. Being attacked by the local flora and fauna was all part of summer. You took your lumps, scratched to your heart’s content and went about the business of having fun. Ok, if it got REALLY bad, mom would put some pink stuff on the affected areas…

Now days, the approach to summer is TOTALLY different. We worry about West Nile Virus, Bird Flu, Swine Flu and a host of other animal-named maladies borne by the pesky mosquito. Next week’s safety topic comes to you from the fine folks at the Great State of Texas Department of Insurance – Division of Workers’ Compensation. The topic is timely ( the bugs are swarming) and the information contained in the material is useful.

As always, read over the material before holding the meeting with the troops.  If you would like to learn more about insect bites and stings at your workplace, please call the Employers Resource Safety and Loss Control Manager at 817-996-3563.

learn more..

Barbie T.
Owner