Tag: Employer Survival

Employers Survival Tip #3

Taking a Bath in the Sink is NOT ok and 5 Other Reasons to Have an Employee Handbook

Yes, we’ve all heard of the employee that was video taped taking a bath in the sink at the Burger King restaurant he was working. While that’s not likely to happen in your workplace, it’s still a critical that you clearly communicate your company policy to your employees.

Your employees need to know what your policies are so they can confidently work at their optimum level knowing that you have a solid strategy regarding their employment. Additionally, in today’s litigious environment, labor board claims, discrimination lawsuits, sexual harassment claims and employees doing really stupid things are all too real and can drain your time and focus or worse, devastate your business.

Here are 5 top reasons you need to have and Employee Handbook:

Save Time and Money

Comprehensive Employee Handbooks, clearly written and carefully compiled will  save time and avoid confusion about your policies and simply keep the redundant questions about vacation, sick-time, benefits and other policies to a minimum. Employees can focus on their work instead of worrying about the little things and trust me…..they worry about the little things.

It Creates Uniformity and Consistency

One of the worst things you can do as an employer is treat employee disparately or handle employment situations inconsistently. The Employee Handbook is a guide not only for you and your managers to consistently respond to workplace situations, but it will help the employees to know that they are being treated equally and fairly.

Employee Handbooks are a Great Motivational Tool – For You and your Employees

When you  clearly define your mission in language that employees will understand and buy into, it can inspire your own leadership and that of your managers to help keep your employees and your business in line with your mission and values. When your employees understand where you’ve been (company history) and buy-in to where you’re going (mission statement), they can help you not just survive, but thrive in a difficult business environment.

Written Policies Can Avoid Legal Disputes

Written policies, consistently enforced, can help diffuse threatening situations before they get out of control.  A well drafted and enforced handbook can ward off accusations of misapplied benefits, pay or overtime. It can provide clear guidance on the company’s position(s) against discrimination/retaliation/harassment as well as how to manage situations like substance abuse, inappropriate behavior, dress code, etc.

The Government Says You Have to Communicate Certain Employee Rights

That should be good enough but we’ll provide some further clarification. You as an employer are obligated to inform your employees of such programs as Family Medical Leave (FMLA) Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL) Paid Family Leave (PFL) Sexual Harassment, Workers Compensation, Unemployment, Voting rights, and many more. In addition to required postings, the Employee Handbook is the place where the required notification needs to be.

Okay, 6 Reasons

In addition to covering policies designed to help you manage your workforce and protect your business, an effective employee handbook should tell the story of your company, your business philosophy and where you want to go in the future. Information like this is invaluable to employees as it helps them to understand how their lives can be enhanced by a partnership with your business.

I hope we’ve made the case. An Employee Handbook should be part of your strategy to provide a solid foundation your employees can stand upon so they can work efficiently, effectively and profitably. It should also be updated at least annually to ensure all new laws and changes to existing law have been incorporated.

Don’t have time to make it happen? Contact Champion today and we’ll get you started for less than you can do it yourself.

Employers Survival Tip #1

Know Who You’re Hiring Because You Just Don’t Know Who You’re Hiring

A bad hiring decision can wreak havoc on a company budget, productivity and liability. Employees may apply for a position in your company and come in well dressed, able to articulate well, gush with personality but in reality, they may be hiding critical information that you as an employer should know. In this era of high unemployment, you as the employer are in the drivers seat and its critical that you cautiously approach hiring any new employee. Face it, you have limited payroll dollars and you can’t afford to make a mistake.

According to the Society for Human Resource Managers (SHRM), nearly half of more than 3,100 hiring managers interviewed report they’ve caught a job candidate lying on his or her resume or application.

Skeletons in the Closet?

What else is hiding in the closets of the candidates you are looking at? Illegal drug possession or usage? Embezzlement? Other criminal convictions?

The impact from drug or alcohol abuse in the workplace, includes tardiness, absenteeism, turnover, attitude problems, theft, decreased productivity, crime and violence. Sixty-five percent of all accidents on the job are related to drug or alcohol, and substance abusers utilize 16 times as many health care benefits and are six times more likely to file workers compensation claims then non-abusers.

Deterrence is a Great Prevention Tool

Candidates that are seeking employment with you are not likely to notify you of negative history that might affect their chances for employment. Additionally, knowing ahead of time that background checks are required, employees that have serious past issues will be deterred from seeking employment with you to avoid exposure of their history.

The only way to know who is coming into your place of business is to legally and thoroughly perform a strategic pre-employment screening related to your business needs as part of a specific and consistent hiring process.

Pre-Employment Background Checks

Background Checks are relatively inexpensive and can be customized to meet the needs of your business. Background checks can only be preformed before you hire an employee, or in association with a promotion.

Pre-Employment Drug Testing

Most drug testing is done by sending an applicant to a collection site, where a urine sample is obtained and sent to a certified laboratory for analysis. Negative results are normally available within 24 hours and in some cases immediately.

Physical Fitness Screening

If the position you are filling requires physical fitness to perform, it is wise to require a physical fitness test before employees are hired. It is all too common for an employee who has been injured previously to wind up on your workers compensation insurance.

Pre-Employment  screening is part of a specific hiring process that should be carefully and strategically designed and performed to ensure government compliance and maximum effectiveness.  Contact Champion for more information

Next Tip – Can Employees Reach Their (Your) Destination Without a Road Map?