Most supervisors enter the ranks of management to nurture and guide their employees, but they are soon shaken to the core the first time they are forced to have a difficult discussion with a troublesome employee.

As a manager, it’s tempting to turn your head to difficult employees (similar to the way you try to keep your mouth shut with your mother-in-law gives you her opinion about…everything), but ignoring problematic personalities in the workplace only makes the situation worse.

You know the drill:

1.                  An employee comes in late;

2.                  You say nothing hoping to avoid the confrontation;

3.                  The situation worsens and the employee comes in late more often;

4.                  You casually mention to the employee to watch his tardiest;

5.                  The employee improves for two days and then returns to his old habits, but this time your other disgruntled employees seeing your weakness, decide to show up late as well.

6.                  The manger now has anarchy and a major problem. 

Instead of making excuses, it is your job as a manager to address these issues. A simple firm and honest conversation at the onset of the tardiness problem, makes everyone’s life easier in the long run. 

As referenced above, resorting to conflict avoidance will undoubtedly lead to the following results:

1. The behavior continues.
2.  The behavior worsens.
3.  Others join the fray.
4.  Employees lose respect for supervisors.
5.  Your business suffers.
6.  You are held hostage.

To prevent this negative cycle, address problematic behaviors as soon as they are recognized. If you are not accustomed to confronting employees about workplace issues, it may present a challenge. Many managers are guilty of:

1. Being too firm or too weak.
2. Not giving the benefit of the doubt.
3. Talking at their employees, not with them.
4. Being unclear about concerns and/or goals.
5. Waiting too long to address the problem.

If you are guilty of any of the above, recognize these short-comings and fix them. Because while you are addressing your employees in a non-productive, negative manner (or even worse, not at all) your competitors are out there taking notes.

I know what many of you are thinking “I don’t know what kind of bubble you’re living in— I’ve got bigger problems than a few employees playing on the job.” If ignoring problems is in your mindset, look out. 

Many managers are just like you, spending their days putting out fires, working on what’s urgent as opposed to what’s important. It’s time to end this mindset, because the reality of the situation is that most urgent things are preventable. Stop making excuses and start addressing what’s important; I assure it will lead to increased productivity and success for you and your company.  After all what’s more important than ensuring that your employees are happy, productive, and working to increase the profit of your company. 

The Houston Business Journal ranked the Amputee & Prosthetic Center (TAPC) # 10 on the Houston Fast 100, an exclusive ranking of Houston’s fastest growing businesses. Businesses were ranked according to their past two-year growth and were required to be headquartered in the Houston area and be at least five-years-old.

Joe Sansone, CEO of TAPC, attributes the company’s success to it’s commitment to patients and revolutionary approach to amputee care.

“We were so surprised to be named in the top ten on Houston Fast 100 list,” said Sansone. “It’s a testament to the tremendous growth and success that we have achieved over the past five years, but even more so a testament to how dedicated our team is to delivering the best in prosthetic care.  Going above and beyond by advocating for our amputee patients is what our company strives for.”

Although TAPC’s parent company, TMC Orthopedic, has been named on the Houston 100 and Small Business 100 an unprecedented six times, this was the first year TAPC has been eligible for the Houston 100.

TAPC was created in 2004 when Sansone realized the lack of quality prosthetic care available to the amputee community. Since 2004, the Amputee & Prosthetic Center has developed a multitude of innovative programs that have thrusted the company into the national spotlight. Thanks to the glowing accolades from patients and physicians alike, the number of new patients has quickly increased, and as a result, revenues have increased 217.4% over a two year period.

TAPC’s achievements reach beyond revenue growth, as they have encountered more success in the past five years than most companies do in their entire existence. TAPC was named #1 on the Houston Best Places to Work List for 2008 and 2009 and has received multiple honors for its dedication to the amputee community, most notably through its charity Limbs of Love, which has provided over $1 million in prosthetic devices to amputees that would otherwise go without.

“The Amputee & Prosthetic Center was built on a team of dedicated, hard-working people that love what they do,” said Sansone. “The Houston Fast 100 ranking is well-deserved recognition and I am proud of the entire organization for this achievement. We plan to keep our focus on developing new programs to better the lives of our patients, making the future look bright not only for TAPC, but the amputee community as a whole.”

Roughly 60% of Internet users are part of a social networking site of one form or another- the most popular being Facebook. Facebook, a social networking site originally limited to use by the college community, was opened to the public at large in 2006 and now has an astounding 78 million users.  And many of those users have not been hired or have lost their jobs because of what they post onto their own site.

While social networking sites can be great way to network, meet new friends, and connect with old acquaintances, they can be costly if you are not careful.  Especially in today’s “buyers market” of employment, many employers are branching out from traditional background searches and are turning to the Internet to find out as much information as possible about job candidates before investing the time and money required to incorporate them into their business.

According to a study done by CareerBuilder.com, nearly 1 in 2 companies use social networking sites to screen job candidates. The study also revealed that 34% of employers decided not to hire a candidate due to content found on their social network. Some of the top concerns included:

1. 41% - Candidate posted information about them drinking or using drugs.

2. 40% - Candidate posted provocative or inappropriate photographs or information.

3. 28% - Candidate bad-mouthed their previous company or fellow employee.

This should serve as a wake up call for job seekers that are accustomed to posting party photos or obscene comments on their Facebook profiles (and being part of groups like “Damn I’m a Sexy B*tch” or “Drink till you Drop” don’t help you’re case either.) Because, chances are (45% to be exact) that someone is checking out your Facebook page to find out all the dirt on you.

You may be thinking, I am safe if I don’t accept my employer as my friend on Facebook.  What’s an potential employer to think?  If you are applying for a job and you refuse a “friend” invitation from a prospective employer, you might come off as looking dishonest, like you are trying to hide something (which you probably are).  And a refusal of such a request will garner you the same results as if your spurned potential employer had seen the picture of you passed out next to the toilet on your 19^th birthday.

Now for all of you wiping your brow because you have a stable position that you don’t plan on leaving anytime soon (or at least until you clean up your Facebook profile)—you’re not in the clear quite yet.

With a quarter of a million people setting up Facebook accounts daily, a few of the millions are bound to be your co-workers. And once they find that you’re on Facebook, they will be trying to “friend you” or “poke you” or do any number of things that Facebook encourages you to do. Before you know it (assuming you aren’t already) you’ll be sharing personal information with the creepy guy in the insurance department, allowing your co-workers to get to know you on a whole different level.

Again, there is always the option of not accepting a co-worker or supervisor as your friend on Facebook, however you want to be careful. You don’t want to offend the people you work with so you are faced with a dilemma.  Accept the co-worker as a friend and you’ve just aired all of your dirty laundry to the entire office.  Don’t accept them and you’ve rejected a co-worker. 

If your supervisor invites you to be your friend on Facebook, it’s likely it’s not because they want to see the photo album you posted at your mother-in-law’s 80^th birthday. Many supervisor’s “friend” their employees as a mechanism to monitor their employees. I’ve worked with many employers who have revealed that they have logged on to Facebook in the middle of the day to see several of their employees logged on as well – and on the clock!  Or, there’s the employee whose girlfriend posted pictures of them lounging at the beach when he was supposed to be home “sick.” Some have even updated their status ADMITTING that they were not working (see below).

To avoid such mishaps, think about the consequences of anything that you post of Facebook—don’t be an over sharer! Some people reveal far too much information, divulging details they would not typically disclose in the lunch room. One of my employees said she doesn’t post anything that she wouldn’t want her grandchildren to see one day because, the fact of the matter is, once something is on the Internet, chances are it’s out there to stay (Imagine 20 years from now: “Hey kids, look, here’s your grandmother on a nude beach!”)

The moral of the story is, keep it clean and 100% employer friendly! Before you let loose on your social networking site, remember who you’re audience is—after all, what you post could be costing you your current and future job.  And by the way isn’t it time to grow up, make your career your priority and quit bragging that you are a party animal.  College is over with, now get on with the rest of your life. 

Note: For all you non-Facebooker’s out there, this may sound foreign to you. Do yourself a favor and find someone under the age of 30 in your office, they’ll be happy to explain it to you!

In Texas alone over 15,000 jobs were cut last quarter.  Yikes, the sky is falling, desperation ensues, Obama please give us free money!  But let’s take a look at some other figures.  According to researchers at Harris Interactive, 48% of workers who were laid off from full-time jobs in the last three months have found new full-time positions.  And those numbers are up from 41% in March.  What these numbers tell us is that it’s likely that after those 15,000 layoffs in a quarter, staffing agencies and HR managers received 15,000 resumes.

Laid off breadwinners are desperate to find employment in these trying times and they’ll take any job they can get to put food on the table. Think about it— if you were laid off tomorrow are you going to take your time and search for your dream job, or are you going to take the first offer that comes your way?  Most of us can’t afford to sit around, waiting for the economy to improve to find a job in our field of work, so we are forced to look elsewhere.

According to Brent Rasmussen, President of CareerBuilder North America, “Despite a challenging job market, workers have been able to find employment opportunities in a variety of fields…part of this job search success is related to workers expanding career options to new industries and locations.”

In fact, the Harris Interactive survey reported that 38% of workers who were laid off in the last 12 months and landed new jobs said they found work in a different field than where they were previously employed.

What this means for those hiring is resume heaven!  In years past when an ad was run, we might see 30 resumes for a particular position.  Nowadays that same ad will bring in over 500 resumes.   Are these mounds of resumes a blessing or a curse?  Surely a curse to the recruiter forced to cull through the stack.  But a blessing to those that know how to handle those changing career fields. 

Let’s say you have an applicant who has been a contractor for 15 years, and is now applying for a job as a sales representative at your company—how do you know if they are the right person for the job?

There are five qualities that I look for when hiring, which help narrow down applicants to help determine if someone is right for the job. If you follow these guidelines, you’ll be surprised at how easy the hiring process can be.

1.     Job Time

First, look for job time. If an applicant has had more than three jobs in two years toss their resume.  Remember: The best predictor of the future is the past.

2. Skill set

I usually look for someone who has previously worked in a similar position as the job they are applying for, but since we are talking about hiring someone who is changing fields, “position history” seems irrelevant. What is important to pay attention to is the applicant’s skill set. Look at applicants past positions to determine their abilities to see if they have the potential to apply their skills to new areas with minimal training. What you are trying to avoid here is “flavor of the month” employees—those applicants whose skill set you can’t determine because they are inconsistent; they don’t know what job they want so they take what they can get, only to later decide it’s not the job for them and move on.

3. Intelligence

Before an applicant ever gets an interview with my company, they are required to take an intelligence test. I love the Wonderlic test. It ensures I don’t hire stupid people.  And when all else fails, I know I’ve got the best of the best to solve my day-to-day problems. 

4. Demeanor

Pay attention to the overall image created by the applicant—eye contact, poise, articulation, physical appearance. Remember, this person wants to represent your company. There are some positions where demeanor is more important than others. If you are sitting in a cubicle all day with little to no client interaction, demeanor is not as significant as if you were a sales representative. Remember, first impressions are made within seven seconds of meeting someone; if your employees do not project a positive image, chances are clients and customers are going to have a negative perception of your employee, and therefore your company.

5. Personality

Personality is important because you want to ensure that the applicant will fit in with the company culture and stay long term.  Can the same type of employee be happy at Southwest Airlines and the accounting firm of Arthur Anderson?  I swear by the results of a test called the Activity Vector Analysis, or AVA. The AVA predicts work-related behaviors, decision-making approaches, flexibility under various environmental conditions, and other important aspects of behavior. If an applicant doesn’t do well on this test, I take a really hard second look before I hire them. 

As the national unemployment rate jumped to 9.5% it is perhaps the lower income among us are being laid off and unable to find work.  Ah, but no worries.  In steps Big Brother to solve our problems.  On July 24^th, the federal minimum wage will increase wage from $6.55/hr to $7.25 an hour, this means a 10.7% increase to those lower income families who need the help the most.

A 10.7% pay raise is definitely rare and much needed in the current recession and will affect the hourly wages for millions of workers, and in some cases workers who already earn above minimum wage will also get a pay increase as the coworkers earning less than them receive the federally mandated raise. From the onset it sounds simple, as Secretary of Labor Robert Wright often repeats that an amazing 40% of the minimum wage workers are the sole source of income for their families.  But let’s look at the facts:

Sotomayorization?

Secretary of Labor Robert Wright is dishonest and deceitful, promoting his own personal agenda over representing the true facts.  Named after our soon to be confirmed supreme court justice  Sonia Sotomayor, I call this Sotomayorization. 

It is true that 40% of minimum wage workers are the sole source of income for their families.  That is however, if one lumps single individuals such as high school and college students living with their families as workers responsible for the sole source of income for their families -their families of course, being themselves.  It seems evident that the majority of minimum wage workers are younger, have no children, no spouse, and in the early years of their employment career.

Fun with numbers

As a matter of fact 57% of minimum wage workers are single individuals, many living at home with their parents. Only 2.8% of workers earning less than minimum wage are single parents. Only 1.2% of minimum wage workers were adult heads of household with an income of less than $10,000.

So it’s obvious that many minimum wage workers are not single parents struggling to feed their children, rather they are high school or college students living at home with their parents, using their minimum wage to augment the support they already receive from their parents or others.

What are the effects of raising minimum wage?

It has been well documented raising the minimum wage destroys jobs, particularly the jobs of low-skilled and younger workers.  In addition, higher minimum wages make it more difficult for people living on welfare, disability or other governmental aid programs to wean themselves off of your hard-earned tax dollar and become a productive member of society.  A study by Dr. Peter Brandon of the Institute on Poverty showed that raising the minimum wage effects the transition from welfare to employment. His study found that raising minimum wage kept mothers on welfare longer. It noted that mothers on welfare, in states that raised their minimum wage, remained on welfare 44% longer than in states where minimum wage remained the same.

The effects of raising minimum wage on businesses

Keep in mind that minimum wage was raised just last year July 24, 2008 from $5.85 to $6.55 per hour.  This second hike may cause businesses such as retail and restaurants to decrease their workforce or at least restrict the hiring of new employees. Due to our current economic crisis, it is unlikely that business can raise their prices leaving already stressed businesses with but one option.    Left unable to pay higher wages, businesses must reduce their expenses and they may be forced to either reduce their workforce or cut back on the hours of minimum wage workers.  One may also argue that an increase in minimum wage may induce high school students to drop out of school to find employment, and when these students drop out of school, they take jobs away from the welfare recipients, thus propagating the endless cycle of governmental aid.

Conclusion

The campaign to raise minimum wage will have little impact on the lives of lower income workers and their families and will likely have a detrimental effect in the long run. Such governmental mandates are simply political ploys that enable liberals to feel good about “helping out the poor.” It’s simply foolhardy to think that big business, small business, and the average tax payer can continue to foot the bill to “help the poor.”

The only hope that America has of digging itself out of the hole that the Democrats continue to dig for us depends on correctly understanding the causes of poverty and prosperity.  What is needed to raise the lower income out of poverty is a free market system that maximizes opportunities for businesses. The more businesses prosper, the more employees they hire, the higher the wages they pay, the more benefits they offer the employees, and we have prosperity.  When the government intervenes, giving gifts to the lower income people, big business suffer, they lay-off the poor and recessions continue.

For the second year in a row, the Amputee and Prosthetic Center (TAPC) has been named #1 on the Houston’s Best Places to Work List. In addition their parent company TMC Orthopedic was ranked second!

To think that of all the businesses in Houston, my two companies are the best to work for couldn’t make me prouder.  Many CEO’s strive to be the biggest and the best, and while this is important, the distinction I am most proud of is being the Best Place to Work in Houston.

Why you ask? This award is not determined by a third party who evaluates our policies, but is based on anonymous employee responses to an online survey. This means if there are a few upset employees, this distinction is unattainable.  To me, there’s no greater gift employees can give management than to let the world know they think their company is the best place to work.

Business owners, managers, and even competitors ask me how we have managed to receive this honor not once, but twice. They think that there is some secret, but I tell them it is really quite simple.  You take care of your employees, and they will take care of you. 

Without the fantastic team we have at TMC and the Amputee & Prosthetic Center, we would be nowhere. My employees are the best at what they do, so I want to reward them for that.  TMC & TAPC offer interest-free employee loans, employee “fun days,” and birthdays off with pay just to name a few. 

What might surprise you is that the most popular benefit among employees of the Amputee & Prosthetic Center is the fact that they all take part in our charity, Limbs of Love.  It may sound odd that participating in a charity is a perk to our employees; however, all of them view this as such an incredible benefit to be able to truly give back to the patients.  It is the glue that holds our company together.

The reality of working for TAPC & TMC  is that each and every day our employees come in ready to work together towards one common goal: to exceed our patient’s expectations.  An example of this is when we pulled out all the stops to provide a limb for a patient in a one-day turn around so he could walk his daughter down the aisle at her wedding. We’ve also had patients weep for joy because they felt that our company has changed their lives. It is impossible to provide gifts such as this to our patients and not be a happy employee. 

It’s truly a combination of all these things that makes us the Best Place to Work in Houston, and I know that without happy employees, we wouldn’t have happy patients, and without happy patients, we wouldn’t have a successful company, so really, it all goes hand in hand.

Visit our website for more on TAPC being named the Best Place to Work in Houston.

Most of us have experienced the wrath of a bad boss and fortunately many of us have also had the joy of working for a good boss.  The difference between the two is as wide as the Grand Canyon.  Throughout the years, I have identified several traits of the “best boss.” They are as follows:

1)      Exhibit integrity.

         Power comes from integrity; bosses have a long leash and can get away with anything, whether it’s stiffing an employee or a third party. Bosses must always exhibit integrity.

2)      Provide a vision.

        Vision is what sets good bosses apart. A good boss will share his vision to motivate his or her employees.

3)      Encourage feedback.

       Obtaining feedback from your employees is an essential component of meeting their needs. Good bosses must have a mechanism for allowing their employees to express themselves. A good boss does not wait for an employee to knock on their door; rather she initiates contact with employees to discuss their needs.

4)      Actively listen to your employees needs.

Obtaining feedback is only half of the battle, the good boss actively listens to the needs of his employee.

5)      Empower employees.

The good boss empowers his employees to do the job that they were hired to due, unencumbered my micro-managing. 

6)      Encourage employee’s advancement.

         A good boss lets their employees know that there are opportunities for advancement within their organization. They make sure their employees know there are long term career pathways and opportunities for promotion.

7)      Give the BOD.

      BOD stands for give the benefit of the doubt. You know the drill. You hear from an irate customer or an irate co-worker that one of your employees acted in some horrible way. Before you fly off at the handle and chastise your employee, give them the benefit of the doubt, ask them what happened, it will save a lot of eating crow and embarrassment later on.

      Praise in public.

        The employee has not been born that does not relish public praise. It is an important arrow in all bosses quiver to recognize their employees in front of their peers.

9)      Correct in private.

        As important as it is to praise in public, it is equally important to never correct or chastise employees in front of their peers. The sophisticated boss does this only behind closed doors to save the employee embarrassment.

10)  Get your hands dirty.

        Successful supervisors must be able to sit with their employees and assist them in their daily tasks.

11)    11) Have fun with your employees.

        Be of good cheer.  A good boss is a happy boss, and a happy boss motivates his or her troops by being happy. This does not mean being a clown and joking around with employees, it means choosing a perspective that is positive and constructive rather than critical and destructive.

12)  Be firm, fair, and consistent.

          Throughout my years of interviewing employees, I’ve asked this question 1,000 times, “who was your favorite boss and why did you like them?” The answer always comes back some version of  “my favorite  boss was always firm but fair.”

Each of us may manage utilizing a different style.  Whatever your style is, it can be accommodated by using each of these 12 components. Remember, being a  boss is a full time job and managers must work at their supervisory skills. Honing these skills is not something that is simply nice to do, honing these skills will help develop your business and your stature as a boss within your organization.

What kind of boss are you?

What your employees are saying to their loved ones once arrive home from work tells the true story. Are your employees talking about how arrogant, conceited and worthless you are or do they boast about how much they admire you and what you’ve been able to achieve?  Employers recognize the importance of employee retention, and the type of boss you are has a direct effect on retaining your best employees.

So if you are committed to being the best boss you can be, what are the best traits to have and who can you emulate? 

An early groundbreaking study conducted on the different types of bosses/leaders was conducted by German sociologist Max Weber (1894-1920). Weber became best known for his early theories on management. In an attempt to examine different types of leaders and why they obey orders, Weber described three types of leaders.

1)      Charismatic Manager: The charismatic leader exerts control over their employees by the sheer charisma of their personality. Examples of this type of leader would be Herb Kelleher, the recent CEO of Southwest Airlines. It is no doubt that managers such as Kelleher inspire loyalty and esprit de corps amongst their employees. Perhaps the sight of Kelleher running through an airport in an Elvis costume is proof positive of his management style. Put a line between these

2)      The Rational Manager: The rational manager makes an intellectual appeal to his employees self interest. For example, the rational manager might say something along the lines of, “Stick with me and I’ll take you places.” The leaders of Enron, Ken Lay & Jeffery Skilling, definitely employed this type of management style, appealing to their greed and dragging them down the slippery slope.

3)      The Traditional Manager: This type of manager exerts control through the force of their personality. These managers run their business with machine like efficiency and exert their authority and control over their employees. The military is one example of an organization of this stage.

The ideal manager does not solely possess the qualities of just one of these individuals; they are a combination of all three. I like to site the example of Donald Trump. Certainly no one could doubt his charisma with his blatant self-promotion and the branding of the Trump name and the Trump image. There is no doubt that the Rational Manager in him definitely takes charge when he carries his understudies and “apprentices” with him to the top. And surely no one doubts the Traditional approach when he points his finger at the hapless hordes of apprentice wannabees and coldly states “YOU’RE FIRED!” usually followed by a callous, “Ok leave…get out of here.”

Love him or hate him, no one will doubt that Donald Trump is in fact a great business man and in my opinion a great manager.   Emulating Trump may not make you popular with your competitors but it may make you the sort of manager your employees brag about; not to mention likely helping your bottom line.

Our very own TMC Orthopedic CEO Joe Sansone is a finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award and the 1st annual Health Care Hero Award Community Outreach Division.

Joe’s entrepreneur skills were first exhibited when he profited from his college experience by selling used cars on a “we tote the note” lot, leasing pinball machines, and as a photographer. After graduation, a medical company brought Joe to Houston, and in 1992, Joe left the position to launch TMC Orthopedic. In his first years, Joe faced many challenges including lawsuits and new Medicare guidelines and regulations, but preserved and TMC Orthopedic is now the largest single city supplier of bracing and prosthetic limbs in the country.

In 2004, complaints could be heard about the level of service amputee patients were receiving from TMC Orthopedic. Joe could have continued with the standard level of service or do something about it. And so it begins…he listened to his patients, researched other models in the industry, was dissatisfied with what he found and created something entirely different- The Amputee and Prosthetic Center.

Why Should You Care?

Imagine having lost a limb and being shuffled from this doctor and that. You feel lost, wondering what life will be like as an amputee and if anyone truly cares.

Joe Sansone did and still does. He created a full service patient care program. The moment you walk into the door, you are greeted and introduced to your patient advocate who will assist you throughout the process. In addition, you also get a peer visitor who is a fellow amputee trained by the Amputee Coalition of America to help you through the hardest part- dealing with the loss and renewing your spirit. And to top it off, you also get a state of the art 8,000 square foot facility, the largest in the country, that offers you not just exceptional patient care but a gym, library and coffee bar.

It’s not Just about the Patients
Not only does Joe work round the clock to ensure that his patients are happy, he makes sure his employees are happy. TMC Orthopedic and The Amputee and Prosthetic Center have received the Best Place to Work award three years in a row now from the Houston Business Journal (HBJ), as well as #8 on the Best Places to Work in Texas.

He Gives Back

After years of seeing patients that could not afford a prosthesis go without, Joe decided it was time to give back to the community and formed the charity Limbs of Love. Joe doesn’t have the heart to say to someone who has just lost a limb that they can’t have one because their insurance won’t cover it or they simply can’t afford it. Limbs of Love has donated over a million dollars in prosthetic devices to those who would have gone without.

And the Story Continues

Because an amputee’s insurance would not cover certain prosthetic devices, Joe saught the help of the Texas Legislature. Joe, along with fellow amputees, marched to the State Capitol to tell their story. On May 13, 2009, Governor Rick Perry signed into law House Bill 806 so that insurance companies are required to provide minimum coverage for amputees equal to Medicare.

Joe’s entrepreneurial skills combined with a high regard for his patients and the amputee community make him the ideal candidate for these awards, and we wish him the best of luck!

Guest posted by Margaret.

Swine flu – or rather, H1N1 – is on everyone’s mind right now.  We’re all wondering if we’ll have an outbreak that forces a lot of our employees to stay home, risking productivity and possibly affecting the bottom line.  The important thing is to be proactive to prevent business disruption and to protect employees

All businesses should have a crisis response procedure in place, whether it’s for hurricanes or epidemics or whatever.  Let’s hope we don’t have to go through too many more of these types of crises! While you can’t prevent every illness from entering your workplace, an employer can take simple precautions to stem the onslaught before it hits. Every employer should be doing the simple things like providing hand sanitizers.

It’s important to remember that there are federal and state laws that require a business to protect its employees.  H1N1 may fall under the Family and Medical Leave Act, and as such, an employer may find it necessary to provide leave for an employee to care for sick family members. 

Communication is key.  First, make sure all employees know what your plans are and what is expected of them.  Provide information on the prevention and spread of the disease so they can take steps to mitigate its spread.  Staff also must be kept informed of possible exposure if one of their coworkers falls ill, though of course, you won’t identify that individual. 

Someone was telling me recently about an employee who was sick for 3 or 4 days before deciding to stay home.  A sick employee in the workplace puts everyone else at risk, and that person’s supervisor has a responsibility to send that person and advise him or her to go to a doctor if the person shows signs of illness. 

What do you do if an employee refuses to come to work because one of his or her coworkers is sick?  Can you compel that person to come to work?  Well, maybe not.  Employers who threaten an employee with termination may find themselves with a legal problem, if it is determined that the employee had a legitimate fear of serious illness in the workplace.  Check with your legal counsel before making those decisions.

To summarize, these are employers’ responsibilities:

1. Protect employees
2. Provide education on the risks
3. Provide prevention tactics
4. Send workers home who are obviously ill and advise them to seek medical care
5. Mitigate damages and avoid liability

[cont.]

Crises like these are opportunities for an employer to show employees that they are valued.  It’s your job to keep them safe; make sure they know that you are doing all you can to do just that. 

Here are some websites for further information on the H1N1 virus:

www.PandemicFlu.gov

www.cdc.gov

www.who.int