EMS - Employee Management Services


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Managing employee assets and delivering savings.

E-NEWSLETTER: Volume 9, Issue 1 (May 2007)

Employee Handbook: An Important Tool

An employee handbook can serve many valuable purposes for a company and its employees.

A well-constructed employee handbook can:

Provide legal protection
Properly orient employees about workplace policies
Support disciplinary action and prevent charges of unlawful discrimination
Serve as a valuable communication tool, which can help avoid or reduce litigation costs
Improve leadership

Most employee handbooks should include the following series of statements:

The handbook does not create a contract, expressed or implied.
The handbook is not all-inclusive, and is only a set of guidelines.
The handbook does not alter the “at-will” relationship between the employer and employee.
The handbook does not guarantee employment for any definite period of time.
The handbook supersedes any previous handbook or unwritten policies.
The handbook can only be changed in writing, by the president of the organization.
The handbook can be changed by the organization unilaterally, at any time.

One of the many services offered by EMS is a customized employee handbook. EMS stays abreast of regulatory changes that might affect your business, and considers the most up-to-date information to advise you of “best practice” policies and procedures. Your EMS HR Specialist assists, develops, distributes, updates, and regularly monitors your employee handbook to ensure compliance and accuracy.

2007 Spring Advisory Council

EMS teamed up with the Jump Institute to offer a revolutionary approach to building stronger, more effective team-oriented organizations.

This Jump Institute seminar focused on the process of jumping and the efforts associated with each step. Broken down, it parallels that of a business owner’s leadership activities with management and staff. The seminar explored the relationship between high-performance skydiving teams and identifies aspects of skydiving training that can be applied in the business world to build a more unified and effective organizational culture.

Team members are compared to the individual cells of a parachute, which must be properly packaged and opened in order for the parachute to deploy. The team members must maintain and build shared goals to successfully execute its task.
Envision your ultimate goal when you exit the plane. A successful vision is forward thinking and aligned with the organizations’ goals.
Establish target goals that support the organizational goals. These goals can be related to customer service, operational staff, finances, etc.
Create an action plan outlining your intended targets and how you will successfully hit the target.
Review and understand dynamics centered around your obstacles, how these obstacles can be avoided and the impact on your environment and organization.
When you jump, 100% trust and confidence, as well as commitment to the plan, are keys to success. There’s no room for guessing!
Lead by example. Organizational culture is established from the top and mirrored all the way down the organization.
Flying and leading the parachute to your designated target is the management team’s responsibility. You've prepared, gotten the team to accept and now you must navigate your team to successfully land on the target.

Sexual Harassment: Prevention is Key

Source: “Harassment! The Key Role of Judicial Decisions in Sexual Harassment Matters” by Peter A. Susser, Esq in the December 2006/January 2007 issue of PEO Insider

In 1998, the U.S. Supreme Court issued two important cases –- Faragher vs. City of Boca Raton¹ and Burlington Industries, Inc. v. Ellerth² -- dealing with harassment, which established a framework for the analysis of workplace harassment cases and have since been applied by both federal and state courts to all types of harassment.

Initial decisions under Title VII dealt exclusively with sexual harassment, and thus far the first definitions also were focused on this particular kind of conduct. In the past, two types of harassment were recognized: quid pro quo and “hostile work environment” harassment. Traditionally, quid pro quo harassment was found only in situations that involved harassment based on gender, while “hostile work environment” harassment applied to all kinds of unlawful harassment. The Supreme Court’s decisions in Faragher and Ellerth changed the meaning of these traditional terms and have two major effects.

The first imposes liability on employers when their supervisors engage in harassment that results in a “tangible employment action” (i.e. demotion, termination, denial of benefits, and the like).
The second creates an “affirmative defense” to liability when the supervisory behavior creates a hostile work environment, but does not result in a tangible employment action. In this circumstance, employers may have an “affirmative defense” to liability if they have exercised “reasonable care” in attempting to prevent, and promptly correct, workplace harassment, and the employee unreasonably failed to take advantage of such opportunities.

This type of “environmental harassment” can be based on gender, race, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law. Such harassment can involve jokes, graffiti, comments, stories, photographs, gestures, e-mail, or written materials that interfere with an employee’s work performance. Environmental harassment will be found when the conduct in question is:

Unwelcome
Related to a protected category
Offensive both to the recipient and to reasonable person
Severe or persuasive
Threats of job detriment or promises of job benefits that do not result in tangible employment action, if the threats create an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.

An employer that cannot prove it used such reasonable care to prevent or correct harassment, particularly when the employee has used the employer’s complaint procedures, can be found liable. Employee training is key to prevention.

EMS conducts annual Sexual Harassment Preventative Training for all managers and employees. In 2007, EMS HR introduced online training sessions to easily facilitate these annual sessions. Your HR Specialist will be contacting you in the following months to coordinate the training sessions.

¹See, Sexual Harassment Charges, EEOC & FEPAs Combined: FY 1992-FY 2005, www.eeoc.gov/stats/harass.html
²524 U.S. 775, 118 S. Ct. 2275, 141 L.Ed 2d 662 (1998).

Client Spotlight: Ohiomet

At Ohio Metallurgical Service, Inc. (“Ohiomet”) the core business is Commercial Heat Treating. The Company is a service provider of various heat treatment processes, including carburizing, neutral hardening, bell annealing, vacuum hardening and annealing, and induction hardening and tempering. The Company’s major business markets are lawn and garden, residential heating, and automotive-related components.

Ohiomet was established in 1947. Don Gaydosh, the current owner and President, purchased the Company in 1976 and began the ongoing journey to continuously improve the processes through technological advancements and scientific methodologies. Don has nearly 50 years of heat treat experience and overall industry knowledge and expertise. John Gaydosh, Don’s son, is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati and Ohiomet’s Metallurgist, Vice President and General Manager. During his 16 years of service with the Company, he has been the driver behind dramatic changes, including the successful completion of the largest capital investment in company history.

In recent years, Ohiomet has successfully implemented technological advancements, completed growth initiatives, and experienced an increase in overall resource demands. They chose to utilize the services of a Professional Employer Organization (PEO), and ultimately selected EMS to support their HR administration and regulatory compliance needs. Through this partnership, EMS performs the role of the HR staff, which allows the Ohiomet management team to focus their attention on increasing business and improving processes.

Meet the EMS Team

VERNON BELL,
Payroll Specialist
Vernon Bell first began working for EMS as a temporary employee in 2004, and accepted a full-time position as a Payroll Production Specialist in February 2005. Vernon received a promotion in December 2006 to EMS Payroll Specialist, where he’s responsible for the payroll processing for 29 clients. Currently, he’s attending Cincinnati State’s Mechanical Engineering Design program and is a full-time student pending graduation in June 2008.

CHRIS D. SACKSTEDER, PHR,
Human Resource Manager - Dayton
Chris Sacksteder graduated from Wright State University with a Bachelor of Science in Human Resources Management, and in 1998 attained her Professional Human Resources (PHR) certification. Prior to joining EMS in February 2006, Chris was an HR Generalist for two manufacturing companies and worked in various areas of Human Resources including manufacturing, corporate support, recruitment and benefits. She was also co-owner and business manager of a small Dayton-based business for 20 years. Chris was promoted to HR Manager for the Dayton EMS office in January 2007, where she oversees client service delivery to 60 clients.

KATIE RAWE, PHR,
Human Resource Manager - Cincinnati
Katie Rawe graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology and a minor in Human Resource Management. Prior to joining EMS in 2005 as an HR Specialist, she gained six years of experience as HR Manager for a Wisconsin-based automotive chain and as HR Generalist for a manufacturing company. In 2005, Katie received her Professional Human Resources (PHR) certification and was promoted to HR Manager of the Cincinnati Region in 2006. In this capacity, she oversees client service delivery to 79 clients.

Unemployment: Managing Costs

Unemployment insurance is intended to provide monetary benefits for a period of time to workers who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. The unemployment tax rate varies based on an employer’s filed and paid unemployment claims. The higher the number of paid unemployment claims, the higher the tax that’s levied against the

The higher the number of paid unemployment claims, the higher the tax that’s levied against the employer’s payroll. A company’s bottom line is affected by high unemployment claim rates when former employees are filing and receiving unemployment benefits.

employer’s payroll. A company’s bottom line is affected by high unemployment claim rates when former employees are filing and receiving unemployment benefits.

Filing a claim for unemployment does not always mean benefits will be paid. If a former employee has lost his/her job through no fault of his/her own, he/she will be entitled to unemployment benefits. On the other hand, if a company has documented progressive discipline, attendance records, exit/separation interviews, etc. and responds in a timely manner to the state’s notice of an unemployment claim; there’s a good chance a former employee will be disqualified from unemployment benefits.

The key to defending unemployment claims is complete documentation and communication with the terminating employee. Notices that are received from former employees should be challenged when it can be shown that:

There’s documentation supporting a dismissal for willful misconduct.
The former employee willingly left employment to take a job with another company.

Your EMS HR Team monitors claims, and provides and recommends process improvements to better manage your claims costs.