June 2005
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TEEN HARASSMENT CLAIMS:
Here are some case examples from the EEOC: 19-year-old manager accused of harassing 16-year-old employee at Pennsylvania Mexican restaurant Two young men report sexual harassment at New Jersey grocery store Three teenage employees report sexual harassment at California golf club Teenage girls claim that manager sexually harassed them at California bagel shop Teenagers have a significant reluctance to bring forth claims due to fear of embarrassment and peer pressure. The solution: Training to raise the awareness of both young employees and their managers, prompt and through investigation of claims, and appropriate discipline. Here’s a link to fact sheets and brochures from the EEOC http://youth.eeoc.gov/youth_downloads.html. This is just one more reason why we encourage you to use the Employee Compliance Survey.
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Improvement efforts don’t require full attendance but rather a focus on opportunities to get things done. You can address concerns about the input of others by sending a memo describing the efforts you’ll be making over the summer and asking them to provide written input, if they won’t be available for certain dates, projects, or programs. One summertime project to consider is painting and cleaning-up. Your environment speaks volumes about your company. Is it functional, beautiful, and relevant? If not, there’s no better time than summertime to get this work done.
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EDITOR’S COLUMN: AN ALL TOO COMMON EXPERIENCE
The other day I came in to ship out some books via UPS and also to pick up my handouts. It was early in the morning and I was the only person at the counter. The boss happened to be in the area taking care of his own project. While Cassandra started to help me, another customer showed up at the counter. Since she had just started with me and we were going to be a while, she interrupted her boss from his project and asked if he would be willing to assist them. His demeanor revealed he looked on this as more of an annoyance than as an opportunity to perform great customer service. He did speak with them for a moment. Then, while Cassandra was in the middle of helping me, he came over and said, “You need to take care of these other people.” Cassandra, wanting to follow orders, immediately stopped what she was doing with me and moved over to the other folks. I protested to the manager, saying that type of approach does no service to me, the new customer or the employee. When he objected, I asked him if he thought there was anything more important in his day than the customer who he had right in front of him. Instead of replying, he told Cassandra to finish with me and walked off in a huff. Once Cassandra finished helping me, and we went to the cash register, she explained to the other customers that she would ring me up and then help them as soon as possible. Not surprisingly, we customers got to talking about how ridiculous the managers’ behavior was. As I was leaving, I heard the manager get on the phone with an employee who was obviously late. The first thing that he said was, “You were supposed to be in here at 9:00!” Chances are, the employee already knew this and was calling to let him know that he was running late or couldn’t come in for whatever reason. He probably wanted to respond, “No *@#* Sherlock!” but instead bit his tongue. Perhaps, when the manager answered the phone he could have started off by saying, “Are you feeling ok?” For all he knew, the employee’s mother just died, he was in an auto accident, or had been the victim of some circumstance over which he had no control. Instead, the boss assumed that the employee simply didn’t care about getting to work on time. If it were my company, I’d tell this manager that he needs to either change his approach with both customers and employees or find work elsewhere. In the 15 minutes that I was there, he turned off two customers, as well as two employees. It looked as if he was having a lousy day — and the chances are that being the manager, this bad disposition affected the day of everyone else. Cassandra does a good job every day in spite of her boss, not because of him; because of her personal pride, not because he has motivated her. It reminds me of Cool Hand Luke encouraging the chain gang to work hard despite the conduct of the guards. Again, it’s a matter of personal pride. When asked, How do we motivate people? I often advise companies to stop hiring managers who demotivate people. I recommend that these businesses make sure their managers follow these four rules:
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During the past three years, we've seen a rise in claims filed by teenagers for sexual harassment. In response, the EEOC has launched a Youth at Work initiative (
There’s a common belief that summertime is no time for getting things done. For most companies it’s their slowest season, which means less pressure and fewer burdens on the organization.
Every month I go to a large office supply retailer to have handouts printed for my presentations. The employee who manages the printing section, Cassandra, has always been very courteous and helpful. Her boss, on the other hand, seems to be in a constant state of being too rushed to care about his employees or customers. Let me share a recent example.“Learn the great art of doing the best you can, with what you have, where you are.” Norman Vincent Peale, 1898-1993 |
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We’ve also provided hyperlinks to the Form
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AGE DISCRIMINATION CLAIMANTS GET A BOOST In the Smith case, the plaintiffs argued unsuccessfully that pay raises, which were statistically greater for younger workers than older ones, violated the ADEA because their employer was using the difference to attract more workers. The court denied the claim, stating that the older employees did not do enough to prove their case and that the city’s salary plan was based on reasonable factors other than age. The bottom line: Be able to provide facts, documents, and witnesses to support any RFOA argument. |
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Toward the end of his life, futurist and philosopher Buckminster Fuller conducted full- day integrity workshops. Fuller argued that we can talk about organizational integrity until we’re blue in the face; it makes no difference if there’s no underlying personal integrity. For example, Boeing hired CEO Harry Stonecipher with the specific mandate to strengthen company ethics, and fired him when his personal ethics fell short. Bucky and others tell us that until people learn to act with integrity, today’s technology will amplify, rather than mitigate, any dysfunctions in our organizations. Whether you call it integrity, trust, ethics or values, it all begins at the personal level. Will we make expedient decisions under pressure or remain steadfast in making the right ones? Will we lead by example, rather than by what we preach? Are we willing to train people on how to make decisions with integrity and in accord with our ethics and values? Are we willing to risk being wrong in the name of acting right? The success of your organization’s success rests squarely on the integrity of each and every employee.
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Overtime Authorization Form Spanish version This form saved a printing company with 80 employees more than $5,000 per month, starting in the first month of its use! We encouraged them to accumulate these forms to find out which of their clients or customers are causing the additional expense of overtime. You are likewise encouraged.
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The information presented here is general in nature and does not constitute legal advice. Due to local and state laws and ordinances, an individual article might not apply in every jurisdiction. For more information on the contents of this newsletter, please e-mail or give us a call. © Employer Advisors Network, Inc. 2008 |
One of the greatest exposures employers face involves age discrimination. Due to average earnings, these cases often result in the highest average verdicts of any employment type claims. In a U.S. Supreme Court opinion issued in March, Smith v. City of Jackson