Small Business Hawaii | Volume 23 Number 10 | October 1998
THE MOST COMMON The following are the most common mistakes made by employers: * Inconsistencies with paying non-exempt employees overtime. Facing an audit with the Department of Labor and possible penalties. * Ignoring employee's discrimination or harassment complaints against a co-worker or supervisor that lead to a lawsuit. * Wrongful termination claims. To reduce the risk of litigation exposure, you need to make sure your company is in compliance with the state and federal laws. Among these are: * Personnel policies and policies handbook should be given to all employees including supervisors and managers. Be sure to have your employees sign an acknowledgement form stating that he or she received a copy of the handbook. * Be sure to update your handbook. Employment laws are constantly changing. * Do an employee orientation. Let your employees know what you expect of them. This is a good time to explain what are the employee benefits. * Be sure to ask your non-exempt employees to fill out and sign timesheets. This will avoid any misunderstanding of hours worked. Timesheets are a good tool in calculating overtime. * Give your employees a copy of their job description. Job description should outline the essential functions of the position. This will assist the employer in defending against wrongful claims and any misunderstanding of what the job required. In fairness to your employees, never assume he or she knows what the job requires if it is not properly described. * Personnel files must be kept confidentially. Employees' personal information including pay records performance evaluations and employment history must be handled confidentially. It is best to keep this in a locked file cabinet. * Remind your supervisors and managers to complete performance evaluation forms for the employees he or she supervises. It is important to let your employees know if he or she is meeting job expectations. It is a good practice to identify problem areas that need improvement and it is a good system to compliment your employee when he or she meets job expectations. * Establish procedural steps in dealing with a problem employee. Be sure to apply your company policies for discipline. If your policy states that an employee will receive a verbal or written warning for poor performance, be sure to apply this and have the employee sign it. This will avoid the employee testifying he or she did not receive notice of poor performance. * Do not take your employee discrimination or harassment lightly. Investigate it! It is important to do a thorough fact finding as soon as you become aware of the complaint. Have an experienced investigator conduct the investigation. The investigator may be your most important witness. A complete well documented investigation will allow your employment litigation attorney to get up to speed with a minimum amount of time and attorney fees expended. The above steps will assist you to minimize some of your employment disputes. If you need any assistance with the above, please do not hesitate to call HR2 Consulting at 808-373-4444. We provide employer assistance in managing human resource issues, including review your existing personnel policies and procedures handbook, assist you with the investigation of employee complaints, conduct benefits and compensation analysis, and accessing resources of employee assistance programs.
ECONOMICS: WHAT IS IT? WHAT IS IT NOT? The economic way of thinking includes concepts like incentives and the fact that individuals react to incentives by making choices and those choices, multiplied by thousands, make enormous differences in an economy like Hawaii over time. In other words, incentives matter. It does matter that at a dollar a trip, The Bus passenger from Nuuanu to downtown subsidizes the person who goes to town from Haleiwa. Or that the true cost of each bus trip is $3.50, the rest being picked up by the city which can only find the money by taking it from productive individuals like you and me. Another concept is that there are always tradeoffs because resources are always scarce. That means that the money taken from you to subsidize The Bus ($2.50 per person per trip) cannot be used by you for something you value more than helping a bus rider you probably don't know. So value, personal, unique and individual is a critical factor in economics. That's why we must value and cater to the wants and desires of our customers if we are to succeed. If the individual personal choice is lacking or restricted, economies like Hawaii's wither because the scarce resources are squandered by others (many of your valued tradeoffs are made for you). The final economic concept is the importance of long range consequences. It appears that most decisions made by political bodies or figures are "feel good" ones as in: "I'll vote for this legislation because I will feel good about doing something that looks like a benefit to my constituents and which the news media will accept as such. Long-range consequences do not matter because most occur much, much later, and I'll never be held accountable." Much, much later, could mean 20-30-40 or more years. The Bus situation of today was created by Mayor Frank Fasi and the City Council of the time almost 30 years ago. The Hawaii Prepaid Health Care Act which increases employer costs 10% to 25%, is over 25 years old and it has now reached the point that it has cut employment and the development of fresh new business to an enormous extent. Here's why: The patient covered under auspices of the Hawaii Prepaid Health Care Act has no important choice in the quality or quantity of future care. He makes no tradeoffs. He has no incentive to do so. The program appears to be almost free and it looks as if there is no scarcity of quality/quantity of care. All important decisions about the care are made by persons other than the patient. Most of the time he (the patient) is not really aware that such choices and decisions are being made. Some of those who love the system enjoy having decisions made for them. Others like to blame someone else while absolving themselves from responsibility/accountability. Some hate the idea of making decisions which acknowledge the existence of scarce resources. the necessity for tradeoffs, and the values and incentives involved. But those choices are part and parcel of the human condition. In fact, economics is the human condition. Consequences are unavoidable as in "pay now or pay later but pay you must." However there is a higher power than economics and that is the all abiding need for direction. In other words, economics can tell what will happen but we must first know where we want to go, so to speak. Reduced to its essence-where do you want to go? Economics will take us there. You simply direct it and off you go. Religion can be a major source for this guidance, particularly when it keeps us humble and aware of that higher power and that no person is above the power. There you have it. Economics will navigate us but personal ethics, purpose, strength of character, integrity, love, etc. otherwise known as religion (or to some, natural law) must provide direction. In Hawaii, the economics are there, always will be. It's the direction we are lacking. Remember, "if it is to be it is up to you and me" (with help from our God). It is definitely not up to our career legislators and bureaucrats. They are the ones who got us where we are right now because they thought their direction was the one for you and me. It was not. Let's elect persons who will get out of our way and let us pursue our personal goals. Will you remember in November?
DOUBLE CROSSOVER REPORTER: Welcome ladies and gentlemen to "You Are There!"-an amazing on-the-spot interview with people in the headlines. We are very fortunate to have an interview with the Director of the Department of Double Crossovers. Ma'am, what do you do? W: We arrange, and mandate, double crossovers? R: What is a double crossover? W: Well, take primary elections, for example. We have made it possible for the people in political parties to crossover and elect the nominees of other political parties. R: Doesn't it get a little confusing? I mean, isn't a political party supposed to be a private organization of people who stand for certain ideas? W: Sure. R: Well, isn't it difficult for a political party to represent anything at all if anyone in the community can select the candidates who will represent a political party? W: That's the idea! We reduce the confusion in politics by insuring that political parties will be more similar, not different. It's much more...harmonious, don't you agree? R: Has it worked? W: Certainly! It's so successful that we've decided to do the same for every community organization. R: Can you elaborate? W: I'd be glad to. We plan to open the elections of every church group to voters throughout the community. R: You mean that Baptists, Muslims, and atheists will all get to vote on the Catholic hierarchy? W: And vice versa! Then we want lawyers, plumbers, and housewives to elect officials in the medical association. Union officials will soon be elected by doctors, business managers, and military personnel. And Rotary leaders will be selected by Lions, artists, and the League of Women Voters. With double crossover everywhere, we'll soon be one happy family! R: Thank you very much. This has been your on-the-spot reporter with "You Are There!"
 Employer Mistakes | Economics | Double Crossover
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