Welcome to your virtual HR Department. At the Maine Corner Store, we understand how important each employee is to a small company—and how difficult it is to keep up with all the latest HR issues, from managing Millenials to hiring online to keeping payroll taxes straight. Our HR bloggers have experience in companies of all sizes, so they can answer your questions today and as you grow.
How’s The Hiring? A Question for Maine’s Small Business Community (Part 2 of 3)
Posted Tuesday, May 15, 2012 by Sarah Conroy
Questions and Answers
Let’s look at each question above and some suggestions on how to figure out if they are right for our organization. For starters, there are no hard and fast rules to screen applicants. The currently regulatory environment encourages employers to accommodate wherever possible. As you will also recall from previous blogs, all employers must be EEO employers and follow Title VII and related laws, but not all employers must act affirmatively to hire unqualified applicants in protected classes. Generally this means you must ensure your processes do not disparately treat OR impact applicants, but you do not have to give preference to protected classes in the hire. This is an oversimplification, so please be sure to come back with any questions you have. I want to help you get it right!
Are you willing to consider the long term unemployed? If you are nervous about whether the candidate has lost skills or suffered a loss of morale, ASK! Put the onus on the applicant to allay your concerns. In this economy, you may learn that hard working professionals are volunteering their talents, so while the work is not paid, it is no less fresh and valuable. You may also wish to consider a temp-to-perm arrangement. While too broad a topic for this forum, there are many more ways to successfully hire someone who has been without work for a while. Here is a great article on it. http://allbusiness.sfgate.com/hiring-long-term-unemployed/16706807-1.html
Are you willing to consider the overqualified? What is your policy on this? Often times employers think the employee will leave after a short time or be a challenge to manage. Again, ASK! Sometimes people have different priorities at different stages of life so “overqualified”, does not mean “knows best”. As with all people matters, it’s about that person and that circumstance, not just the length of the work history or the degrees on the wall. In fact, with more people than ever with advanced degrees, we will likely wrangle with this question more over time. Here is a great article on some areas where the “overqualified” may be particularly welcome in your company: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505125_162-31550619/when-hiring-an-overqualified-candidate-makes-sense/
How about the “seasoned” worker? Let’s unwrap it a bit. What are the concerns? Is it diminishment of faculties, strength or endurance or is it more an issue of “too much experience”? Job descriptions should have physical requirements as well as competencies to ensure you screen properly and not jump to a conclusion about whether someone can do a job. Remember, HR is about how to help you determine who is the right fit, not “make” you take someone who is not a fit and I can’t stress enough how important it is to revisit your hiring process, especially if things have changed or you haven’t hired in a bit. Here is a link that I think will help: http://www.trainingmag.com/article/hiring-again . While we have covered age discrimination law in the blog before, but here is a reminder on the law: http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/maine-employment-discrimination-31732.html
How about someone a bit different from your current staff?
What kind of training have your managers had to recognize excellence, even when it might pierce their personal comfort zones?
Are they familiar with equal employment opportunity law?
How’s The Hiring? A Question for Maine’s Small Business Community (Part 1 of 3)
Posted Tuesday, May 01, 2012 by Sarah Conroy
How’s it going? Knock wood, we seem to be coming out of our very deep recession. How did your business survive? Layoffs, permanent or temporary? Reduced hours? Hiatus? There were some tricks in the bag, but not enough I am sure. In today’s blog let’s talk about the comeback.
Having seen some interesting approaches to hiring of late, it seems like a good time to question what might pass for common wisdom. You can be employer of choice and gain competitive advantage in the bargain, by being enlightened among those who are less so. Here are a few questions you might ask yourself as you begin to hire again:
Are you willing to consider the long term unemployed?
Are you willing to consider the overqualified?
How about the “seasoned” worker?
How about someone a bit different from your current staff?
What kind of training have your managers had to recognize excellence, even when it might pierce their personal comfort zones?
Are they familiar with equal employment opportunity law?
What about returning veterans?
What about those who may have had challenges with bankruptcy or foreclosure due to the economic downturn?
What about felons?
What is your policy on following up with candidates? Does everyone get an acknowledgment? An explanation? Feedback of any kind?
This is not about doing “the right thing”; it’s about making great business decisions by opening up and looking beyond your traditional candidate pool. We have talked about what is to be gained in previous blogs, but to reiterate here a bit, it’s more than you know. You will learn not only what you don’t know, but you will learn what you don’t know you don’t know. It is from these fresh perspectives that true innovation comes and likely along with it, new client bases. For your reference, here is a link to one such previous blog entry: http://www.mainecornerstore.org/mx/hm.asp?id=blogCategories&p2=cat&p5=HR&p1=88&p4=567. You may also find that you thought you had a shortage of qualified applicants in your backyard and you really have a surplus. If your company uses the term EEO in its ads, be prepared for what that means and how your hiring process will accommodate it properly.
Up next, a look at these questions with suggestions on how to address each….
Organizational ethics are sets of formal and informal standards of conduct that people use to guide their behavior at work. They are based on core values such as honesty, respect, and trust, but are also influenced by the actions of others. For example, what people see their organizational leaders, managers, and coworkers do on the job can determine their own views of what is acceptable behavior. Ethics programs are the policies and practices that organizations develop to deal with their own ethical issues. Issues that arise can be tied to your industry, your geography, the founding principles of your company and many other factors. It’s up to you to decide how to shape your culture beyond our societal norms and laws, but you will be wise to ensure your culture doesn’t cause employees to act against them. For example, if your culture admires traits found in the youthful, be sure the seasoned employee is not left behind. Make sure you have a procedure to welcome information that might benefit the company, even if it’s hard to hear. This small action may prevent a much larger problem later on if acted upon right away.
The Ethics Resource Center’s very interesting 2011 National Business Ethics Survey can be found here: http://www.ethics.org/nbes/download.html. It notes 2 major factors impacting ethical behavior in the workplace right now – the economy and the evolution of social media. The report notes that historically, as the economy improves and companies and workers get more comfortable about their futures, misconduct tends to rise because “profit takes precedence over proper behavior.” In addition, reporting of misconduct declines, pressure to compromise increases and retaliation for allegations rises during improving economic times. The report notes that active social networkers are far more tolerant of questionable behaviors in the workplace overall and have a tendency to misuse work time.
Getting Started With Your Plan
The ERC report offered several recommendations for executives and boards of directors to boost ethical behavior and drive down risk:
Invest deeply in ethics and compliance programs, and make ethics a business priority.
Make ethical leadership a part of performance evaluations for managers at all levels.
Communicate your personal commitment to ethical conduct.
Develop ways to strengthen your ethics culture using social networks.
Revisit your company’s nonretaliation policy and practices.
Don’t worry if none of this sounds familiar to you! Establishing an ethics program is not an exact science. As with the development of other organizational programs, it involves the input, cooperation, decision-making and ongoing commitment of many people. Proper planning is important, but the effectiveness of any company’s approach also depends on characteristics that are unique to its culture, the leadership style of the executive team, the Board and others in the mix. The discussion of workplace ethics can raise sensitive issues. Some people in your organization may have difficulty or be uncomfortable discussing these issues. Your executive team may wish to start with these 7 questions:
Why might good people in this organization do unethical things?
What are our organization’s values?
Have we adequately articulated these values internally and externally?
Does our organization have written ethics policies, procedures or structures, if so, are they utilized consistently and effectively?
To whom is our organization accountable?
What do we mean by “success”?
Does the leadership of our organization support the idea of an ethical workplace?
How hiring people with disabilities makes good business sense
The Maine State Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with the Maine Department of Health and Human Services and the Maine Department of Labor, held a business diversity conference on Tuesday, April 3, 2012, in Freeport titled “Maine’s Untapped Workforce: How hiring people with disabilities makes good business sense.”
With an aging population and an ongoing out-of-state exodus of younger workers, many Maine businesses and employers are thinking creatively in order to meet Maine’s unique labor challenges and boost their bottom line. One proven strategy is hiring people with disabilities. The result is overwhelmingly win-win: employers get reliable, productive, high-quality workers and job seekers with disabilities gain new skills, economic independence, and a better quality of life.
Following welcoming remarks to nearly 100 attendees by Maine Department of Labor Commissioner Robert Winglass and Maine State Chamber of Commerce President Dana Connors, Proctor & Gamble was awarded the “Welcoming Diversity Business Award.” Deb Russell, corporate manager for Walgreen’s, the nation’s largest drugstore chain, delivered the keynote address.
“We employ a lot of people with disabilities,” said Russell. “We have good employees – they meet and exceed our standards every day. Hiring people with disabilities has really improved our company for everyone involved. Imagine the difference we can make if all companies did this.”
“The business case for this disability employment model is compelling,” said Commissioner Winglass. “Employers report increased productivity and greater job satisfaction within the entire workforce. A concerted effort to promote diversity and employment opportunities for people with disabilities also demonstrates good corporate responsibility and creates an invaluable amount of goodwill in the greater community.”
“Today’s conference really highlighted how hiring people with disabilities makes good business sense,” said Dana Connors. “Large and small Maine businesses are thinking creatively, and hiring people with disabilities is a win-win for employers, employees, customers, and a company’s bottom line.”
One in five Americans has some type of disability, and more than 70 percent of people with disabilities require no special accommodations.
Posted Monday, April 09, 2012 by Willow Sherwood, Wellness Council of Maine
There has been a lot of focus in the news lately about the dangers of sitting all day at work. We all know the dangers of living a sedentary lifestyle, and many of us who have desk jobs or drive all day make the extra effort to get activity before, after and during work to counter all the sitting, but the important question to ask is, are we doing enough to encourage employees to move?
Recent research (Journal of the American College of Sports Medicine, May 2010; Archives of Internal Medicine, March 2012, among others) has found that sedentary lifestyles and increased time spent watching TV and riding in a car were positively related to increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease. Additionally, jobs in the U.S. typically require eight hours of sitting, and then we sit again at home in front of the TV or computer. For most Americans, it is crucial to reduce sedentary time at work and at home and increase regular physical activity to improve our cardiovascular health.
How can this be done while we spend the majority of our waking hours at work? The answer is not complicated and can be done without great expense. Employers can work to create a culture that supports healthy living and providing employees with the flexibility to move during the workday. Below are 20 tips to fitting more movement into the workday and tips for leisure time that can be shared with your employees or implemented for your business.
Tips for Work…
Take walks on your breaks and don’t sit for more than an hour at a time.
Don’t send an email, IM or the intercom- Get up and go to your co-worker’s office.
Take a stretch break every hour.
Park farther away from your building or while out at lunch.
Set up a standing workstation so you can alternate sitting and standing during the day.
Skip the elevator and take the stairs.
Use a pair of hand weights to do upper body strength training during conference calls or webinars.
Swap out a stability ball for your office chair.
Hold standing or walking meetings. Meetings will be shorter and concise.
Engage the entire office in any of the above to help everyone stay accountable.
Tips for Home…
Schedule exercise into your week like you would other appointments.
Lightly stretch when you wake or before bedtime.
Do yard work, gardening or landscaping.
You don’t have to do it at once: Exercise in 15 minute spurts.
Play with your dog in the yard or park.
Make it a family affair. Engage the entire household in moving more.
Schedule active weekends and vacations. We are lucky to live in the greatest state in the nation and there are plenty of ways to be active right in our backyard.
Avoid turning on the TV or computer as soon as you walk through the door.
Take a walk before or after dinner.
Be creative and try something new. The more you vary your routine, the more likely you’ll stick with it.
When employees feel good, they tend to perform better. That’s why most Chamber BlueOptions’ plans come with employee discounts on health products and services, as well as an online health and fitness program. Just contact your Anthem-appointed insurance producer for more information, or go to the Chamber’s BlueOptions web page (www.mainechamber.org/blueoptions) to find a producer.
For more information on the Chamber BlueOptions health plan, please contact Joyce LaRoche, executive director of the Maine State Chamber Purchasing Alliance, by calling (207) 623-4568, ext. 113, or by emailing jlaroche@mainechamber.org, or contact Amy Downing at ext. 104 or adowning@mainechamber.org.
Writing a Code of Ethics for your organization? Chances are you are already partly there. You’re on your way if you have determined the values of your organization and you have an employee handbook and/or policy manual that includes things like following EEO laws, whistleblower protection, conflicts of interest policy and practice and department/position requirements that ensure employees make ethical choices, eg – processes and procedures for handling money including built in checks and redundancies. The key is to tie this all together and make it a part of your culture everyday. Don’t assume everyone comes from the same place you do. We all have different experiences and these can be magnified by generation, culture, where one is on the income scale and many other variables. We are blessed with a diverse society, but that comes with extra responsibility to put everyone on the same page.
Why Now?
Businesses have found it pays off in terms of higher morale, increased productivity, fewer employee relations and disciplinary problems and well as reduced turnover. It also helps your business’ reputation in the community. There are some laws to consider in the mix, which include not just creating policies, but ensuring the message sticks. For example, many employers are simply not aware that the federal sentencing guidelines apply to them. Changes to this law in 2004 (post-Enron) required all employers to take steps to establish ethical cultures and to measure the efficacy of their efforts. For more on these changes, please see: http://www.ethics.org/resource/federal-sentencing-guidelines
The Function of an Ethics Program
Essentially, ethics programs are meant to affect how people think about and address ethical issues that arise on the job. By providing employees with ethics standards, training, and resources to get advice, organizations seek to create a work environment where (1) it’s okay for employees to acknowledge that they have an ethical dilemma, and (2) resources are readily available to guide employees in working through such dilemmas before making decisions. It does more than just create the structure for employees to report when someone does something wrong, it gives employees the tools to take informed risks on behalf of the company and ensures the right staff member is dealing with the right issue that arises. For example, your HR Manager is better equipped to deal with some of the “people” challenges and by ensuring that resource is deployed correctly and effectively, it frees up impacted employees to worry about their own jobs and act within the sphere of influence for their particular roles – in other words, it plays to people’s strengths, experience and education.
The real function of an ethics program is to allow good people to do the right thing and succeed. There will always be some who willfully act unethically, this is why clear procedures for those who act with impunity is key. Employees want their companies to do what is right, not just what is profitable. This means you need to have employee support of the effort to ensure its success. While it is up to the company to set the standards, it is helpful to include employee input if you are revamping your policies. According to a recent study by the Ethics Resource Center, employees who see their leaders and supervisors modeling ethical behavior and see values such as honesty, respect and trust regularly report more positive experiences and enjoy better outcomes like:
Less pressure on employees to compromise ethics standards;
Less observed misconduct at work;
Greater willingness to report misconduct;
Greater satisfaction with their organization’s response to misconduct they report;
Greater overall satisfaction with their organizations; and
Greater likelihood of “feeling valued” by their organizations.
To summarize, a positive ethical environment is strongly linked to a focus on ethics programs, ethical modeling by leaders and supervisors and to frequent displays of key values such as honesty, respect, and trust.
Up next, more on exactly what we mean by ethics and how to get started should you choose to create a more robust ethics program for your business.
The 2004 SHRM Workplace Violence Survey charted employer responses to threats of workplace violence. According to HR professionals, more than one-third (38%) of organizations have responded to employee threats of violence by immediate termination. Thirty-two percent indicated that the employee would be referred to an EAP or counseling, while another 31% stated that the employee would be given a written warning. Medium and large organizations are more likely than small organizations to take action on employee threats of violence in the following ways: employee probation, employee referral to an EAP or counseling and written warning. In most cases, larger organizations use these responses about two to three times more often than small companies.
Here are 10 proactive approaches for developing a workplace violence prevention program:
Review company policies.
Access physical protective measures.
Train supervisors to avoid negligent hiring and retention.
Contact local law enforcement to review nonemergency call plan.
Communicate the emergency action planto all personnel and related agencies.
Practice the emergency action plan.
Appoint a public information representative for the company.
Train employees in CPR and first aid.
Offer an employee assistance program (EAP) and educate the employees regarding its services.
Locate and have available blueprints of the facility.
Assist Victims of Domestic Violence at Work
As more states and local governments pass laws protecting the workplace rights of victims of domestic or sexual violence, employers should establish a written policy on domestic violence, including leave requests and related issues. Employers should consider instituting a policy covering intimate partner violence, providing access to experts and information to assist victims, offering support through EAPs, giving extra employment security and granting time off when needed. The policy must take into account employee privacy. Information concerning domestic violence or sexual abuse victims must be kept confidential.
If the person does not qualify for a leave, there are other low-cost accommodations to help. These can include changing their work locations, phone extensions or hours of work. compiling a list of support groups and shelters and making the list available to employees and taking into consideration performance issues related to domestic violence. Maine has great resources to address this sadly prevalent problem in our State. Governor LePage is to be congratulated for raising awareness and facilitating employer response to this crisis. A great place to start is the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence or Maine's 211 portal.
Above all else, don't assume it can't happen in your workplace. Have an action plan, train on it and ensure it is up to date. Be sure to investigate ALL threats and be sensitive to warning signs.
Up next, workplace ethics. As always, your questions, suggestions and comments are welcome.
According to a 2001 NIOSH report, 40% of all workplace-related deaths among female workers were homicides, primarily robbery-related, and often in grocery/convenience stores, eating and drinking establishments, and gasoline service stations. More than a quarter of female victims of workplace homicide are assaulted by people they know (co-workers, customers, spouses or friends). Domestic violence incidents that spill into the workplace account for 16% of female victims of job-related homicides. Among the two-thirds of work-related injuries resulting from nonfatal assaults on women, most (70%) were directed at women employed in service occupations, such as health care, while an additional 20% of these incidents occurred in retail locations, such as restaurants and grocery stores.
In a Society for Human Resource Management survey, HR professionals indicated that nearly three-quarters (72%) of the violence was perpetrated by males. The survey reported that women are five times more likely than men to be attacked at work by an intimate partner. Women are also slightly more likely to be killed in the workplace by people they know, such as co-workers, customers, spouses or friends. Various laws, regulations and employer policies expose employers to liability for incidents of workplace violence and domestic violence in the workplace. In addition, federal and state employee leave laws may entitle victims to take time away from work without penalty; these laws include Maine’s Victim’s of Violence and Family Medical Leave laws as well as the federal Americans with Disabilities and Family Medical Leave Acts.
Our Duty as Employers
Employers must comply with the general duty clause [Section 5(a)(1)] of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) of 1970, which states that each employer “shall furnish . . . a place of employment which is free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees.”Costs
The 2011 Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Indexreports “assaults and violent acts” as the 10th leading cause of nonfatal occupational injury at a workers’ compensation cost of $590 million. In 2003, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that domestic/intimate partner violence costs employers $727.8 million in lost productivity, with more than 7.9 million paid workdays lost each year. See,Costs of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in the United States. Additional costs result from employer-provided health care insurance covering the cost of injuries and illnesses, crisis intervention, and group and individual counseling for victims, witnesses and their families. While these numbers are far from complete, to calculate the indirect costs of workplace violence to an organization and its employees, one must take into account more than costs quantifiable in dollars and work hours. Whether an incident of violence or harassment at work involves just two people or two thousand, it will create a widening circle of response, diverting attention and resources from the business at hand. At a minimum, it will require management attention at some level, most often immediate supervisors, HR managers and staff, but also senior management, safety and security, medical and legal advisors.Beyond all the liability employers incur in failing to take measures to ensure a safe working environment, billions of dollars are lost each year in time, productivity and added security measures as a direct result of violence at work. In addition, there can be costs associated with investigations by law enforcement, loss of company reputation and business relationships among other considerations.
We will cover more on workplace violence in our next blog entry. Turns out three parts did not do the topic justice!
Workplace Violence Prevention in Maine (Part 2 of 3)
Posted Wednesday, February 15, 2012 by Sarah Conroy
Although workplace violence is a concern for everyone, there are a number of industries and certain environments that are at a higher risk. Studies conducted by NIOSH concluded that the highest numbers of occupational homicides occurred in working environments that included:
Taxicab establishments.
Liquor stores.
Gas stations.
Security and detective services.
Justice and public entities such as courts and law enforcement offices.
Grocery stores.
Jewelry stores.
Hotels/motels.
Eating and drinking establishments.
Basically, any situation where workers exchange money with the public, work alone or in small groups, deliver passengers, or work late hours or early morning shifts are included. In-home related services, social work, health care and other types of community-based positions also are included in the high-risk category. Risks are even greater for companies with locations in high-crime areas and/or for those that have positions that require employees to possess a weapon as part of their daily job function.
Maine
Maine is a relatively safe state, yet a body of evidence indicates Maine workers are sometimes at risk for workplace violence. For employers, workplace violence can result in a number of damaging effects including loss of patrons, harmful publicity, potential for litigation, employee turnover, absenteeism, increased workers’ compensation costs, and the long-term emotional toll of witnessing an employee’s injury or death. As with many issues of public safety, the benefits of implementing a prevention plan need to be weighed against the costs of responding to an incident of preventable workplace violence. Based on the Maine Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), there was an annual average of 77 workplace robberies – approximately one every five days – between 1994 and 2004. Approximately 41 percent of these occurred in business establishments not provided in detail by the UCR. Of those that could be classified, about 39 percent occur in convenience stores, ten percent in banks and six percent were at gas stations. From 1990 through 2005 there were 17 workplace homicides. Type I (criminal intent) violence accounted for seven (41%); five were in a retail environment (supermarkets, a convenience store, a gas station and a clothing store). Five homicides (29%) resulted from Type 4 (personal relationship) violence. Less frequent were Type 3 (worker-on-worker) with three (18%) and Type 2 (customer/client) with only two (12%). According to Maine Workers’ Compensation data about 245 workers annually report a lost-time injury due to workplace violence. Looking at occupations, nurses and nurses’ aides are the largest group, accounting for 44% of the reports. Retail workers (26 %) and police (18%) were second and third. Research by the Maine Department of Labor shows that workplace violence incidents are underreported in the Workers’ Compensation system. Much more here.
Maine takes domestic violence seriously and recognizes its part in workplace violence. As mentioned previously, the Governor is addressing this as a goal of his administration. Here is a recent report from Maine’s domestic abuse homicide review panel with some important observations and recommendations. Remember, domestic abuse is not separate from your workplace, not only might you employ targets and aggressors, but parents, children and others impacted by it. This is why giving your employees access to an employee assistance program (EAP) is a wise investment.
Here are some more resources to help bring the problem into focus and help you take steps to mitigate its potential impact on your workplace.
Workplace Violence Prevention in Maine (Part 1 of 3)
Posted Wednesday, February 01, 2012 by Sarah Conroy
Safety & Security are parts of the HR discipline and there is NOTHING more important than the protection of those in your employ. We thought it would be a good time to also revisit safety & security in the wake of recent domestic violence cases in the news in Maine and the ongoing conversation in the Legislature about weapons in the workplace.
Of course this is way too much for a couple of blog posts, but we can make a start and tell you what you need to think about to prevent problems. As you undoubtedly know, people bring their lives to the workplace in varying degrees. This can lead to everything from safety issues from distraction and work inattention to assaults in the workplace. You might employ an aggressor or a target, or both. You need to have a plan. We have touched on this a bit in previous blog posts and I refer you to our last blog entry for all kinds of resources you might utilize for both training and assistance in safety and security. You will want to pay particular attention to Maine Safety Works and to domestic violence prevention training. Maine has an unusually high proportion of murders related to domestic violence so this will impact your workplace at some point if it has not already. Our Governor is making it a priority to address the problem so there is a willing ear and some resources available to you once you have reviewed your workplace for safety and security.
Some Definitions
The disciplines of safety and security overlap, but in general when we say workplace safety we mean eliminating or reducing risks of injury or illness to employees. The chief aim of workplace safety is to protect an organization’s most valuable asset—its people. Workplace safety is achieved through a variety of methods, including policies, procedures and specific hazard control techniques.
When we say workplace security, we mean protecting employees from internal and external security risks. This includes due to an increase in workplace violence, background checks, technology-based security needs, threats of terrorism, and increased legal liability to organizations for not taking reasonable measures to safeguard the workplace from security threats. Workplace security risks vary depending on an organization’s business, its location and its hours of operation. A fundamental element of any workplace security initiative is a security risk assessment. Risks need to be properly identified in order to establish appropriate methods, either procedural or physical barriers and systems. Depending on the nature of the business and related security risks, organizations may need to address:
Establishing a formal security function.
Establishing computer, e-mail and Internet policies and procedures.
Including non-compete agreements and related tools for the protection of proprietary information and intellectual property.
Developing crisis management and contingency plans.
Establishing theft and fraud prevention procedures.
Developing workplace violence prevention procedures and training.
Installing security systems.
Developing restricted-access policies and key-control procedures.
We will leave safety for now and focus on a part of security in this blog series, workplace violence prevention.
Workplace Violence
Workplace violence and domestic violence in the workplace are devastating. The toll can be incalculable in terms of direct loss, but it also devastates morale. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health(NIOSH) defines workplace violence as any physical assault, threatening behavior or verbal abuse that occurs in the work setting. Acts such as psychological trauma due to threats, obscene phone calls, an intimidating presence and harassment of any kind are included. The term “workplace violence” may include acts that result in damage to company resources or capabilities. Many employers also consider workplace harassment and bullying to be forms of workplace violence. Additionally, domestic violence that spills over into the workplace in the form of assaults, threats or other actions by outside parties with whom employees have relationships and that occur at the workplace is included in this context. In Workplace Violence Prevention Strategies and Research Needs, NIOSH classifies perpetrators of workplace violence and domestic violence in the workplace into four types:
Criminal intent -The perpetrator has no legitimate relationship to the business or its employee and is usually committing a crime in conjunction with the violence. These crimes can include robbery, shoplifting, trespassing and terrorism. The vast majority of workplace homicides (85%) fall into this category.
Customer/client- The perpetrator has a legitimate relationship with the business and becomes violent while being served by the business. This category includes customers, clients, patients, students, inmates and any other group for which the business provides services. It is believed that a large portion of customer/client incidents occur in the health care industry, in settings such as nursing homes or psychiatric facilities; the victims are often patient caregivers. Police officers, prison staff, flight attendants and teachers are some other examples of workers who may be exposed to this kind of workplace violence, which accounts for approximately 3% of all workplace homicides.
Worker-on-worker - The perpetrator is an employee or past employee who attacks or threatens another employee(s) or past employee(s) in the workplace. Worker-on-worker fatalities account for approximately 7% of all workplace homicides.
Personal relationship - The perpetrator usually does not have a relationship with the business but has a personal relationship with the intended victim. This category includes victims of domestic violence assaulted or threatened while at work and accounts for about 5% of all workplace homicides.
Statistics on workplace assaults and violent acts resulting in death or reportable injuries illustrate the scope and seriousness of the related problems of workplace violence and domestic violence in the workplace.
Up next, more on workplace violence and its prevention…
Click on the Archives in the right column for more posts.
Information on this site is intended to provide guidance, not legal advice. Since exact language and definitions of key terms are critical to understanding the requirements of legislation, rules or laws, we encourage you to read each carefully. Articles, blogs, and information offered here may be reprinted with attribution given to “the Maine Corner Store, a program managed by the Maine State Chamber of Commerce.” Please address comments to Melanie Baillargeon, director of communications, by calling (207) 623-4568, ext. 20, or by emailing melanieb@mainechamber.org.
