Bank of Hawaii, Columbus, Georgia?

By Bill Sullivan

Yes Sir, Mr. (Larry) Johnson, that million dollar a year President of the Bank of Hawaii and one of Gov Ben Cayetano's Task Force to save Hawaii's economy has moved at least his VISA card activity from downtown Honolulu to P.O. Box 23012, Columbus, Georgia 31902-3012! Your BOH Visa payments are to be mailed to that address. Phone number is 1-877-529-0473.

If you have a BOH VISA, check your Georgia statement carefully, on my November billing, I am charged $15 late fee for paying my October billing late on October 30 and then have that pay off amount added to my November charges to be paid again!!! Plus, I have an 11-25 PURCHASE "FINANCE CHARGE" of $25.14 added at the bottom of my statement! In short, I am being charged $40.14 for the privilege of using their VISA and being charged to pay October twice.

I took this monstrous (out of State statement) to my local BOH branch and asked for clarification. The Bank of Hawaii, Columbus, Ga. was closed for the weekend at 3:30 PM, Dec. 4, 1998, Hawaii time! I have to go back Monday, Dec. 6, 1998. With the 5 hour time difference, I must be there before 10:00 AM local time. What a way to do banking!!!

If the Million dollar President of Bank of Hawaii can move my account to his branch in Georgia, I can move my account out of Georgia to Texas where I am not outlandishly overcharged. Thank goodness the legislature voted down the Cayetano/Johnson Economic Recovery Plan for Georgia! Bye bye, BOH Georgia! I prefer Texas to Georgia.

Finally, is our education system in Hawaii so bad that we don't have an accountant capable enough to manage BankOH's VISA business locally and not have to go offshore? The Bankohana will soon answer the Phone, "Bank of Hawaii, Y'all!"

Maintenance of Personnel Files and Records

By Helene Robin, HR2 Consulting

An important issue that employers face today is what should be kept in a Personnel File? What items should be filed separately? Who should have access?

Not only do various federal agencies have their own record retention requirements, but state laws also have requirements that have to be followed. Employers should review applicable laws when drafting or updating its policy or procedures regarding records to maintain in personnel files and how long those records should be kept. A written policy provides consistency with replies when employees request access to their files. To maintain the integrity of records, access should be permitted under some type of supervision and specify who is authorized to inspect personnel files.

The following records should be kept in a personnel file : employment application and resume, reference checks, job descriptions, W-4 forms, records relating to other employment practices, performance evaluations, disciplinary documents and termination records. Medical records (dues to privacy laws protecting employees) and I-9 forms (Eligibility Verification Form required by the Immigration Reform and Control Act) must be maintained separately. It is advisable to keep I-9 forms chronologically by year for inspection during an audit from either the Immigration and Naturalization Service or Department of Labor. Keep in mind that personnel files contain information that is very confidential and/or sensitive and should be handled very carefully.

Federal recordkeeping and retention requirements are often similar to the state laws. However, the period of retention for the information may vary. It is advisable to establish a system for auditing your company's record keeping as well as a consistent program for record destruction. However, be cautious that even with such a standard practice in place, when a discrimination charge or lawsuit is filed, all records relevant to the charge must be kept until "final disposition" of the charge or lawsuit.

How To Manage Workplace Stress

By Suzanne Gelb, Ph.D., Psychologist

In today's tough economic times, many people are finding work to be very stressful due to layoffs, mergers, bankruptcies, unfamiliar tasks, demanding bosses, reduced benefits, working harder for less pay, too much responsibility, too little authority - these are some of the factors that cause workers to be stressed, and to begin updating their resumes.

Fortunately, stress is manageable and pressures and frustration need not impair functioning at work. The level of stress we experience reflects how we manage our emotions and respond to our environment. "Workplace violence...is a response to the rage, fear and uncertainty that exists in work organizations because of the high stress caused by unremitting change, such as downsizing, globalization of the economy, new technology and marketing pressure," says psychologist Mark Braverman, Ph.D., in the American Psychological Association's July 1998 Monitor, p.2. Let's explore causes and remedies for stress on the job, so that work can be satisfying and rewarding.

External stressors are more pronounced. For example, some people fear environmental challenges, such as driving to work in traffic, technology, job and task changes, angry people, authority (e.g., being summoned to the boss's office or being pulled over by a police officer on the highway). Such fears can be stressful and anxiety provoking, and to compound matters, people often feel guilty and angry with themselves for being afraid. The anger builds and is projected outward (e.g., resentment of supervisors, impatience with co-workers, annoyance with customers). This behavior causes added stress, and can inhibit productivity and teamwork.

Effective tools for breaking the stress cycle are available. Start by tracking emotionally charged stress reactions in a journal. Externalization (safe discharge of emotions) can follow. Anger, for example, can be discharged by hitting a pillow, after which one can resume activities with positive energy. Expression of grief (even to the point of shedding a tear) helps one deal with losses experienced during the day (e.g., a project someone was working hard on is pulled due to budget constraints). People often handle these disappointments by suppressing their grief and anger, which can lead to depression, irritability, and absenteeism. Excessive fear inhibits optimal functioning and can be resolved by replacing insecurity with self-confidence.

After tending to their stress reactions by safely discharging and managing their emotions, many people feel better equipped by balance priorities and demands. They realize the importance of providing healthy emotional, psychological, spiritual, and physical maintenance for themselves, and feel a renewed sense of purpose and confidence in their ability to manage workplace stress.

The Year 2000+ Vision for Honolulu

By Richard O. Rowland, Rowland & Associates

The Mayor of Honolulu has a vision for Honolulu in the next century.

Earlier, as Managing Director under Frank Fasi, Jeremy Harris had a vision for a fixed rail system for our Honolulu. That earlier vision failed. It would have been a monumental mistake and a financial disaster. Rene Mansho stood firm in her convictions to kill that fiasco. Thank you, Rene.

Now Mr. Harris has a new vision and has been spending lots of government time, energy and money putting it together. The new vision is directly contradictory to the earlier vision, leading me to ask him recently if his support of the new vision doesn't prove that the earlier one would have been a mistake. He denied that, but any objective observer would conclude that the two are incompatible. The first focused on central city build up, the current one focuses on country living.

Anyway, he's real excited about this vision for year 2000+. But, since the earlier vision was flawed, how do we know this one isn't another colossal mistake?

Aside from that, I've got a problem with both visions. It's a major one. It seems to me that this government visioning focuses on physical things rather than the important human factors of life. Mind is more important than matter. Physical "things" are always less important than ideas, concepts, human communication, innovation, love, character, integrity, family cohesiveness, the human soul and the religion that feeds and sustains it. In other words, for long term visioning, the metaphysical is always more important than the physical. The mayor's vision would build a community with physical assets instead of character assets. Love is left out while bikeways are installed. They take away choice and leave an electric trolley. They build a park and make no viable plans for ongoing safety, security, and maintenance.

Further, those engaged in these plans are government employees and community "activists." Among the community activists it is almost impossible to find anyone under age 40. Where are the 18 to 40 year olds? They are busy attending college, starting a business or career, paying exorbitant taxes, holding down two jobs, attending church, supporting community activities, helping mom, dad, uncle and auntie and encouraging the kids with character development and homework. They don't have time or energy to "plan" for everybody else's year 2000+; they are far too busy planning their business, their own life, and helping with the future of their family, community and church. And that's what they should be doing, except, of course, for the taxes and the two jobs.

Where does that leave us in the year 2000+ planning process?

We have persons planning for physical characteristics for an envisioned community in which they are going to live for a short time and in which those not planning and their kids will live for a long time. Further, those doing the planning will pay little for the development of their plan. Instead, the persons too busy running their own lives will pay for the plans they had nothing to do with and their children (some unborn) will pay even more.

What's the solution?

Why not eliminate the plan and the planners?

Why not have the Mayor concentrate on making sure we are secure in our homes and in our property and let us mind our own planning?

You know your life, you family, your wants, your needs, your ideas, your hopes, your dreams far, far better than the mayor or a bunch of elderly busy bodies who want to run your life because they know "best."

What to do? Call the Mayor and your City Council member and tell them you have your own plans for year 2000+ and you don't need to be planned into a rigid frigid box by others whom you will never be able to hold accountable for their errors. And believe me, they are making and will make lots of mistakes that you and your kids will get to pay for.

LIBERTARIAN VIEW

Can We Learn From Japan?

By Tracy Ryan

What's wrong with Japan's economy and what lessons can be learned by their troubles? Both the CATO and Ludwig Von Mises Institutes have recently come out with articles discussing the Japanese failure. CATO attacks the centralization of economic decision making as represented by state directed insider capitalism. Unlike our system of open equity markets Japan's capital markets have been dominated by the big banks. This allowed capital to be "allocated according to government policy or long standing corporate relationships rather than strictly market based criteria." A further problem has been Japan's philosophy of "patient capital" invested with a goal of gaining market share in key industries rather than creating short term profit. Both of these factors tend to magnify the ill effects of bad investments. There is a slowness to cut losses on them and a general lessening of flexibility in reacting to the market. As long as Japan was playing catch up and had a clear investment model to follow these flaws were not self evident.

The Von Mises article puts great onus on the credit expansion of the late eighties led by the central banking authorities. Nearly half of the funds available for investment came from a government run postal savings system. The credit inflation has led to a crash, as such policies always do, leaving Japan's banks with staggering levels of bad debt.

It should be noted the Japanese have tried to cure their problems with massive public works projects. Between 1992 and 1995 over $556 billion was squandered on these boon doggles in the incorrect belief that government spending is good for the economy. This old suggestion, popularized by John Maynard Keynes earlier in this century, is one of the most thoroughly refuted ideas in economics. It was centerpiece of both the Hoover and Roosevelt administrations in their failed attempts to deal with our great depression. Unfortunately politicians learn slowly.

The other bad solution to Japan's problems being widely touted is a financial bailout by the World Bank. This is like pouring gasoline on a fire. The bad debts and investments must be liquidated and the market allowed to redirect labor and capital without government interference through fiscal policy or central banking policy. Trying to prop up the creaky structure that now exists will only prolong and ultimately deepen the bottom when it comes. Reinflation through a credit expansion was also tried during the Herbert Hoover years. At that time it lead to a bank crises bad enough to cause the closing of every bank in the America by President Franklin Roosevelt.

Hawaii's economy has a lot in common with Japan's. We have the same close relationships between government and business, the same cronyism, the same commitment to central planning, the same reliance on public works as an engine for economic growth, the same rejection of the concept of free markets, and finally the same attempts to forestall a healthy liquidation of all the bad investments so the market can reestablish itself in relation to the needs of consumers. Liquidation gets the pain over with quickly. Until these problems of policy are addressed no fundamental improvement in our economy is likely. We will continue to flounder just as Japan has.

BOH, Columbus Georgia? | Personnel Records | Managing Stress
Mayor Harris's Vision 2000+ | Can We Learn From Japan?

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