Author: Site Staff

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal says that Bank of America told him staffing levels would be kept constant after its acquisition of Fleet Bank. On Wednesday, however, Bank of America cut an estimated 1,500 Fleet jobs.

Bank of America’s spokewoman Eloise Hale told the Associated Press that the layoffs are consistent with B of A’s promises. “We will meet our commitment over time. Employment levels will drop in the short term, but we will over time grow employment levels as we grow in the market.”

The Boston Globe says that the “cuts are likely to be especially painful because many Fleet employees thought they had received assurances from Bank of America that the branches would escape the brunt of the 12,500 nationwide layoffs Bank of America is implementing as part of the merger.” The Globe says that branch managers were instructed to tell bank tellers that “Originally, we were told not to expect impact to customer-facing positions” but that the need for “optimal staffing levels” is necessary to provide “customer delight” at Fleet.

Capitol Hill may be a bit quiet this month with many lawmakers campaigning in their home districts. But not far away, on L Street in the nation’s capital, the U.S. EEOC is keeping busy.

Among recent EEOC news:

• The agency is suing Omni Hotels on behalf of Mohamed S. Elmougy, according to the Associated Press. The EEOC says that the company discriminated against the hotel manager and retaliated against him after he refused to put Hispanic waiters in less-visible jobs. The company denies any wrongdoing.

• On Tuesday, the EEOC filed an employment discrimination suit against Whelan Security, a St. Louis company, for allegedly terminating a female employee because she was pregnant. The EEOC says that the woman’ s doctor released her to work without restrictions.

• On Friday, the EEOC announced the settlement of a sex discrimination lawsuit for $360,000 against Jillian’s, a restaurant. The suit alleged that Jillian’s failed to hire and/or transfer a class of male employees to lucrative server positions because of their sex. The EEOC alleged that “the company’s actions were intentional and demonstrated a reckless indifference to the rights of the class of men.”

Dear Pinching Pennies:



Link the reward to things that your employees value. A coffee mug probably won’t sufficiently motivate someone to change eating habits or take other steps to lead a healthier life. Instead, consider a gift certificate, a T-shirt, a waistband pedometer, a free month at a gym or a wall plaque congratulating them on their accomplishments. Cold, hard cash still works well, too.

Awards should be tied to achieving specific objectives, e.g., completing a health-risk appraisal, participating in a stop-smoking program or attending weight/diet-counseling sessions.

Form a committee of employees to review/suggest the reward options. This makes the rewards as meaningful as possible to your employees. The committee would be able to determine what best motivates individuals to change their lifestyle to be more health-conscious. Management should determine a budget, or financial value, for the rewards, but employees need to have input into what rewards actually work.

Be careful to follow proposed federal regulations concerning wellness programs. These include the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. You’ll have to design reasonable alternative objectives for employees who, because of disability or health factors, are unable to achieve the main objective. Also, depending on the structure of the program, proposed HIPAA rules stipulate that monetary rewards may have to be limited to a certain percentage of the cost of coverage under the health plan.

SOURCE: Nancy Hakes, National Health Practice, The Segal Company, Phoenix, Oct. 2, 2003.

LEARN MORE: ReadWellness: A Novel Approach to learn how Bank One encourages employees to stay healthy.

The information contained in this article is intended to provide useful information on the topic covered, but should not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion. Also remember that state laws may differ from the federal law.

T he chart below rates the effectiveness of different ways to reduce expatriate turnover, from high, medium to low effectiveness. The results are consistent with many past surveys, according to GMAC Relocation Services.

    Survey respondents included both small and large organizations; for 79 percent of the respondents, the company headquarters was in the United States. In most cases, respondents were senior human resource professionals and/or managers of international relocation programs.

    The chart is fromGMAC Relocation Services,National Foreign Trade Council and the SHRM Global Forum.

G rowth of 401(k) Eligible Participants, Assets and Plans, 1984-2003

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration, Private Pension Plan Bulletin (Winter 2001-2002) for 1984-1998. 1999-2003 are estimated. Also thanks to the Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America.

With Congress out on recess, the new federal overtime rules will go into effect unchanged from their April unveiling. Employers and their attorneys are preparing for the August 23 deadline to comply.

The rules are all the more complicated for employers in California, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey and other states that have their own wage and hour laws. Employers in these states will need to analyze whether their state law is more favorable to employees than the federal law; if so, the state provisions take precedent.

Meanwhile, employers are reviewing the overtime status of their employees and deciding whether that status should be changed — analyzing both the letter of the law and the retention implications. From a legal perspective, Epstein, Becker & Green attorney Jon Trafimow says that employers should review the duties of all their employees. “Companies need to take a fresh look at what their policies are, and do an assessment to see if they comply with what the new regulations require,” he says. Despite what the law allows, Jon Cecil, chief human resources officer at Lee Memorial Health System, says that his Fort Myers, Florida-based company will pay registered nurses for overtime even though it doesn’t have to, according to Business Insurance. Employees are “so hard to find, they’re so hard to keep, there’s such a great shortage out there,” Cecil says.

In a background interview with Workforce Management, a
high-ranking U.S. Department of Labor official said he thinks that the government’s goal of simplifying wage laws has been met. After putting on hundreds of seminars around the country explaining the new rule, he says there’s “less confusion” about whether most professional employees are exempt. He says that while millions of low-wage employees who will now be eligible for overtime because they earn less than $455 per week, when it comes to salaried employees “few will be impacted.”

Dear Worried:



You face a tough challenge. Organizations with great cultures know the link between the effort and morale of employees and the performance of an organization. In your case, however, the owner needs some basic fundamentals and education in human behavior.

How you present the information to the owner will determine your success. Here are four recommendations to keep in mind:

1. Acknowledge the tough economic and business environment.
   
2. Present the data in positive fashion: “here’s how recognition can reduce attrition and improve revenue, etc…”
   
3. Have a get-started, low- to no-cost recognition plan to share.
   
4. Ask him to participate as a role model.
   

There are numerous statistics and studies that support the need for reinforcement and recognition. One study showed that the number one reason for people leaving their jobs is lack of recognition and praise. Another showed the top three reasons why people don’t perform:

• Lack of clear performance expectations
  
• Lack of feedback
  
• Inappropriate reinforcement/recognition
  

Another study showed that non-cash rewards provide a higher return than cash rewards by almost 3 to 1.

In one survey of nearly 800 managers, about 73 percent of managers received the results they expected either immediately or soon thereafter they used non-monetary recognition. Additionally, nearly 99 percent said they felt they would eventually obtain the desired results.

A comprehensive study by Lawrence Lindhahl reports that “full appreciation for work done” is the top employee motivator, behind other metrics such as good wages job security, management being sympathetic to issues, and feeling “in” on things.

The big consulting firms have published detailed studies of the link between workforce management and stock price. Watson Wyatt has shown an incredibly strong link between the degree to which employees are committed to their companies and the company’s stock value. Watson Wyatt has also shown a very strong link between the amount of trust employees have in senior management and the company’s stock price.

The statistical link between workforce-management practices and a company’s performance is well-documented and well studied.

Remember, human behavior is entirely rational, and all behavior is a function of its consequences. You get what you reward–or in this case, what you don’t reward. Good luck.

SOURCE: Workforce Management‘s Todd Raphael wrote the parts about the link between workforce management and stock price. Kimberly Smithson, VP Business Solutions, Prosperiti, Chicago, Illinois, Sept. 3, 2003 wrote most of the rest. Also, the “number one reason people leave jobs” was published in Sales and Marketing. The three reasons people don’t perform is from The Balanced Scorecard. The data about non-cash rewards is from the American Productivity and Quality Center’s People, Performance and Pay report. The study of 800 managers is from employee-recognition guru Bob Nelson, writing in The Recognition and Performance Link.

LEARN MORE: See theHR Scorecard of Business Results. ReadGetting Happy with the Rewards King. Also try www.recognition.org and World At Work.

The information contained in this article is intended to provide useful information on the topic covered, but should not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion. Also remember that state laws may differ from the federal law.