Category: Archive

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Have a Consistent Plan for Providing Employee References

Issue: In light of the recent incidents of violence in the workplace, your CEO has made updating your company’s hiring and firing practices a priority for the new year. A committee was formed and your task is to work on the company’s policy for giving references. What should your reference policy include?


Answer: Your policy should be to provide references; failure to do so may make you liable should an ex-employee turn violent in a subsequent workplace if you had let that employee go because of violent tendencies or threatening behavior.


Be consistent.
The most important factor in a good policy is consistency. Have a firm, uniform policy for giving references and make sure everyone who has the authority to give references follows that policy to the letter. Restrict the number of people who are authorized to give references and document each reference provided, even those given over the telephone, if your policy allows oral references.


The following tips will guide you in setting up a reference practice that is uniform and fair:


  • Develop a formal policy for handling employee reference requests that addresses:


  1. The type of information that will be provided;


  2. Who is authorized to provide references; and


  3. The required form of the request.


  • Communicate the reference policy to managers and employees.


  • Make sure that terminated employees are given an accurate reason for their dismissals, based on documented evidence.


  • Do not provide references for former employees unless you have a release and waiver.


  • Do not provide blank “to whom it may concern” reference letters to separating employees.


  • Return responses to written reference requests to the requester in an envelope marked “confidential.”


  • Ask any party requesting a reference if it has the former employee’s permission to contact you.


  • Verify the identity of the person making a telephone inquiry by calling the employer to verify the inquirer’s position.


  • Communicate only with parties that have a need to know (HR, prospective supervisor, etc.)


  • Before giving references over the telephone, ask if the other party is alone and if the conversation is being recorded.


  • Provide only truthful, job-related information that is based on proper documentation.


  • Do not volunteer information that is not requested.


  • Do not provide misleading information.


  • Provide the same type of information about former employees at all levels.


  • Document the specifics of all references given in a log.


Cite: Frank B. Garrett III, a principal at the Decatur, Illinois, law firm of Robbins, Schwartz, Nicholas, Lifton & Taylor, at the Eleventh Annual EEO Conference in Chicago.


SOURCE: CCH Incorporated is a leading provider of information and software for human resources, legal, accounting, health-care and small-business professionals. CCH offers human resource management, payroll, employment, benefits, and worker-safety products and publications in print, CD, online and via the Internet. For more information and other updates on the latest HR news, check our Web site at http://hr.cch.com.


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.


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How to Make the Most of a Holiday Job Search

Especially if you’re thinking of making a job change, or even out of work, it’s tempting to succumb to depression at this festive season of the year. But keep in mind that the highest percentage of job offers are generally made during the first quarter of the year. The following hints will help you overcome holiday depression and capitalize on the networking opportunities the season provides.


  • Volunteer. While there are volunteer opportunities year-round, many charities need extra help during the holidays. Prepare or serve meals at a shelter or help organize a food, clothing or gift drive. It will be an energizing experience and will help job seekers put their own situation in perspective.
  • If you’re invited to a party or professional function, go. By staying at home and isolating themselves, job seekers not only feed their depression, but lose out on valuable opportunities to connect with other people.
  • Set goals for your job search. Even in December, job seekers should set a target number of networking contacts to make, letters to send, meetings to set up with hiring managers, etc. Job seekers should aim for these goals and reward themselves when they meet them.
  • Be positive. Job seekers should try to feel comfortable with the fact that they are not working by thinking about interesting people they’ve met during their job search and the new perspective they’ve gained on career goals. Job seekers should emphasize the positive to themselves and others.
  • Take advantage of the season by calling old friends and acquaintances. The holidays offer a no-risk excuse to call, catch up and offer good wishes for the new year. The door is open for a serious networking call in January.
  • Watch your alcohol intake. At a party or even at home, drinking too much alcohol will impair a job seeker’s ability to network effectively and perform other job search tasks. For many people, alcohol consumption leads to a heightened sense of sadness.

SOURCE: Lee Hecht Harrison, Irvine, CA.

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Think Before Hiring Outside Agency to Investigate Harassment

Issue:In response to an employee’ssexual harassment complaint, your company hired a consulting firm to investigatethe charges. You chose an outside consultant to ensure objectivity in theinvestigation, since a high-level manager was the target. The manager beingaccused of sexual harassment now insists that he is entitled to a copy of theinvestigative report prepared by the consulting firm. Is he right?

 

Answer: Yes, according to theFederal Trade Commission (FTC), since the investigation report falls within thescope of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The FTC has concluded that anemployer who hires an outside organization to investigate a sexual harassmentclaim must follow FCRA procedures because:

 

1. An outside firm performing a harassment investigation onbehalf of an employer is a “consumer reporting agency,”

 

2. The report would most likely be an “investigativeconsumer report,” and

 

3. Violations requiring corrective or disciplinary actioncould reasonably be defined as an adverse employment decision.

 

Whatdoes the FCRA require?
Under theFCRA, in order to obtain a copy of a third party’s investigative report, an
employer must certify to the consumer reporting agency that:

 

·   The employer has conspicuously disclosed to applicantsor employees, in writing, that a credit report may be sought. (Note that thisdisclosure has to be in a document separate from any other document.)

 

·   Information from the report will not be used inviolation of any federal or state equal opportunity law or regulation.

 

·   Written authorization has been obtained from employeesor applicants.

 

Moreover,before taking any adverse employment action based on the credit report, theemployer must provide to the applicant or employee a copy of the report plus awritten summary of consumer rights under the Consumer Credit Reform Act.Adverse action means a denial of employment or any other decision foremployment purposes that adversely affects any current or prospective employee.

 

Whatcan employers do?
Acknowledgingits approach could create some “practical problems,” the FTC has offered theserecommendations:

 

Routinelyobtain consent at start of employment.
An employee’s consent to obtaining a consumer report, required by law, can beroutinely obtained at the start of employment, relieving the employer of theawkward prospect of having to ask a suspected wrongdoer for permission to allowa third party to provide an investigative (or other) consumer report to theemployer.

 

Routinelymake disclosures at start of employment.
Employers seeking to obtain reports on employees can meet the disclosurerequirements in a similar fashion.

 

Askall current employees to sign a consent form and provide required notice, allat once.
Another way for an employer to comply with these FCRA requirementswithout alerting a suspected wrongdoer is to ask all current employees to signa consent form, and provide them any required notice, at the same time.

 

Conductinvestigations internally.
FCRA does not apply to investigations employers conduct themselves throughtheir own personnel. Similarly, the FCRA would not apply where the employeruses a third party that does not “regularly engage” in preparing such reportsand thus does not fall under the definition of “consumer reporting agency.”

 

If youmust provide a copy of a report prior to adverse action, don’t name parties whoprovided investigative information.
To assist an employer who will be to provide a copy of a report to an employeeprior to adverse action, an investigative agency may draft its report to theemployer to minimize risks attendant to such disclosure, most importantly bynot naming parties that provide negative information regarding the employee.

 

Takeadverse action contemporaneously with providing copy of report.
Note that the FCRA specifies no fixed “waiting period” that an employer mustobserve prior to terminating an employee for workplace misconduct based inwhole or in part on a consumer report.

 

Cites: FTC Informal Staff Opinion Letterof August 31, 1999, Division ofFinancial Practices, Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection, David Medine,Associate Director of Financial Practices; FTCInformalStaff Opinion Letter of April 5, 1999, Division of FinancialPractices, Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection, Christopher W. Keller,Attorney.

 

Source: CCH Incorporated is aleading provider of information and software for human resources, legal,accounting, health-care and small-business professionals. CCH offers humanresource management, payroll, employment, benefits, and worker-safety productsand publications in print, CD, online and via the Internet. For moreinformation and other updates on the latest HR news, check our Web site at http://hr.cch.com.

 

Theinformation contained in this article is intended to provide useful informationon the topic covered, but should not be construed as legal advice or a legalopinion.

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What’s the Most Valuable Item an HR Professional Can Have On His or Her Resume Today

Responses from Workforce.com members as to the best item on an HR resume.


“An MBA is a huge drawing card, particularly for CEOs who want a strategic business partner in their HR officer. Transformational change experience is key due to the aggressive expectations of HR coming from CEOs and company leaders. Line or operational experience is attractive to CEOs particularly if the individual can demonstrate the ability to learn on the fly.”


Bonnie C. Hathcock
Senior Vice President, Human Resources
Humana Inc.
Louisville, Kentucky


 


“I suppose it depends on one’s goals. I will answer from the perspective of someone who aspires to a senior human resources position.


  1. Executive exposure. Having daily, real interaction with senior leadership forces HR professionals to focus on the key business issues and “toughens” them up to learn how to push upwards when the time comes.
  2. Corporatewide responsibilities. These provide one with a high-level perspective on what the business is doing, as well as giving one breadth on the variety of issues that can occur in different work groups.
  3. A seat at the table. HR professionals should be, literally, sitting at the table (e.g., staff meetings and key conversations) and be viewed as an integral part of the business, working with both employees and management.”

Phillip A. Weiss
Director, Human Resources
Continental Airlines
Houston, Texas


 


“I think by far the most valuable thing an HR professional can have on his or her resume is demonstrated productivity improvements within the business not just in HR.


For example, if you improved or instituted some process that impacted overall company performance, then celebrate it on your r sum . Did you effectively decrease time-to-hire? What was the bottom-line impact of that? Did you introduce a child-care program, or a distributed education initiative? If so, did it result in better retention, better service, higher quality?


Businesses want to be able to do more and better with less, and they can appreciate that quality even in their HR hires. Let your current and prospective employers know you are on the same page on improving the overall business.”


Mark Koskiniemi
Vice President, Human Resources
Buckman Laboratories International Inc.
Memphis, Tennessee

 


“The most valuable experience any of us can have on our resumes will detail how we dealt with the tough issues that confront us as HR professionals. Neither the education nor the simple employer listing does enough to catch the eye of the recruiter in need of special skills. Each search has a need for a set of tools and an understanding how to best use them; the only way to effectively showcase them is with simple examples of how they were used to address the issues that face all employers equally.”


Arthur E. Nathan
Vice President, Human Resources
Bellagio Resort
Las Vegas, Nevada

 


If you could begin your career again, what’s the one thing you would do differently? Send your answer along with your name, title, company and location to Todd Raphael at raphaelt@workforceonline.com and your answer may appear on Workforce.com or in Workforce magazine.


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Gain Control of Arbitrations at the Bargaining Table

Union employees have ameasure of job security. Under most union contracts, they cannot be discharged“without just cause.”

By way of contrast, theemployer can fire a non-union employee (who does not have a protectiveemployment contract) at the drop of a hat as long as non-discrimination andother applicable laws are obeyed.

Complicating matters forunionized employers is that, under most labor contacts, a third party, anarbitrator, sits in judgment to determine whether the employer’s dischargedecision was truly for just cause. Not only do unionized employers not have afree hand in discharge matters, their decisions can be overruled by anarbitrator.

Arbitrators overrulecountless employer discharge decisions. They rule against the employers onprocedural grounds, because the employer was compassionate and didn’t dischargean earlier employee who engaged in similar conduct or, as many employersbelieve with considerable justification, arbitrators substitute their judgmentfor the employer’s because they think discharge is too harsh a sanction.

Additionally, no arbitratorwill stay in the arbitration business very long if he/she rules for one side oranother too frequently.

This basic principle ofarbitrator survival manifests itself particularly in discharge cases. Thearbitrator will reduce the employee’s suspension or reinstate the employeewithout back pay. Arbitrators who reduce the employer’s discharge decision to asuspension probably think they are pleasing both sides and enhancing theirchances of being selected again.

The bottom line, however, isthat employers end up winning only half of all discharge cases assuming thatthe all-too-frequent arbitral awards reducing a discharge to a reinstatementwithout back pay are correctly counted as employer losses.

There is a solutionavailable to employers who are losing too many discharge and otherarbitrations. Add a clause to your labor contract limiting the arbitrator’sreview power. Provide in your contract, for example, that an arbitrator cannotmodify or overturn the employer’s discharge (or discipline) decision unless theemployer’s decision “constituted a clear abuse of discretion and was notsupported by any rational basis.”

With such language in yourcontract, your discharge decisions would be sustained unless the union showsthey were arbitrary or capricious.

That is a much moredifficult task than simply showing the absence of just cause. Any demonstrablereason would suffice under this heightened review standard. Employers not onlywill win many more cases under this standard but many more will be settledprior to arbitration since the union realizes the procedural mountain it mustnow surmount before an arbitrator is not worth the effort and/or resources.

This clause is legal. In Dayton Newspapers, 26 AMR Para. 36015(November 20, 1998), NLRB Associate General Counsel Barry J. Kearney, for theBoard’s Division of Advice, directed the Board’s Ninth Regional Office todismiss a charge filed by a union. That union charge attacked an employer’scontract proposal permitting arbitrators to overturn discharge decisions onlywhere the employer’s “just cause” determinations constituted an abuse ofdiscretion and had no rational basis.

The union argued thisproposed contract language deprived their members of “meaningful arbitration”over employer discharge decisions and effectively excluded the union fromparticipation in the arbitration process.

The union relied principallyupon San Isabel Electric Services,225 NLRB 1073 (1976). The employer in that case made two proposals. It proposedthat discipline under its safety and work rules would only be subject toarbitration if that discipline was arbitrary or discriminatory and that thearbitrator could not substitute his/her discretion for that of the employerwhen reviewing such discipline decisions.

However, the employer alsoproposed a contract clause giving it the unilateral discretion to determine allsafety and work rules. The Board held these two proposals combined deprived theunion of meaningful arbitration over the employer’s unilateral decisions as towork and safety rules and possible violations of those rules.

The limitations on the 1976 San Isabel decision become apparent fromthe Board’s contrary 1989 decision in CommercialCandy Vending Division, 254 NLRB 908 (1989). In that case, theAdministrative Law Judge faulted the employer for insisting upon a “broad”management rights clause. The Board reversed because the exercise of thosemanagement rights was still subject to the contract’s grievance procedure.

In Dayton Newspapers, the employer also proposed an extensivemanagement rights clause. However, that clause still limited possible employer unilateralactions because among the many enumerated management rights were the right todischarge “for proper cause” and the right to publish and enforce “reasonable”work rules. As in Commercial Candy,this management rights language saved the day.

Against that importantcontractual backdrop, the employer’s other proposal, that an arbitrator couldneither modify nor overturn an employer discipline decision unless thatdecision “constituted a clear abuse of discretion and was not supported by anyrational basis,” was only lawful hard bargaining and not unlawful surfacebargaining.

Associate General CounselKearney concluded both employer proposals will “provide the union with a rolein representing employees regarding discipline and discharge through grievancearbitration.” As in Commercial Candy,the union retained the “opportunity to grieve and arbitrate disputes.”

The union’s chances ofwinning many arbitrations practically disappears because it must nowdemonstrate the employer abused its discretion in determining it had “propercause” for a discharge. Nevertheless, the union remains a participant, even ifan unhappy one, in the arbitration process with a narrowed opportunity toattack and challenge employer discharge decisions.

Two caveats deserve mention.First, the Dayton Newspapers decisionsimply means no unfair labor practice charge issued in that case. The Boarditself could reach a contrary conclusion when the issue is presented to it.

In the interim, AssociateGeneral Counsel Kearney’s determination means the Board’s regional offices willnot issue complaints against employers based on such contract proposals in theabsence of other employer contract. Second, the employer must still convince aunion to agree to this language during contact negotiations.

Unions will fight thislanguage to the death because they realize it effectively removes them from thearbitration process except as repeated losers. In this case, Dayton Newspaperssimply insisted on this language to impasse with the intent of implementing itafter impasse.

Even then, it neither tookaction to implement its proposal nor enforced the new language in any waypending the Division of Advice’s determination. Staying its hand preserved thepristine legal issue, which was then decided in its favor. Every employer witha union contract can now take advantage of this ruling and position itself towin many more discharge arbitrations.

Copyright © 1999 Nixon Peabody LLP. All rightsreserved.

The information contained in this article is intended to provide usefulinformation on the topic covered, but should not be construed as legal adviceor a legal opinion.

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Your Releases Should Also Release Attorneys’ Fee Claims

Releases are everydayoccurrences in many personnel offices. Employees or ex-employees agree inwriting to surrender and waive their claims against the employer in exchangefor some valuable consideration. These agreements are essential to the smoothfunctioning of any personnel office.

Nevertheless, they fail toblock employee claims if they are not properly drafted. No personnel departmentwants to discover that money was paid to settle an employee claim and, yet, therelease language used was defective.Superiors will certainly want to know why ironclad release language wasnot used.

Title VII and otheremployment statutes allow a “prevailing party to recover a reasonableattorney s fee. Employees and their lawyers rely heavily on this statutoryprovision in the hope of forcing the employer to pay not only its counsel sattorneys fees but the employee s counsel s fees as well. Generally, anyrecovery in the case other than nominal damages entitles an employee to asserthe/she has “prevailed. This rule certainly applies to settlements wheresomething of value is given to the employee.

For this reason, it isessential that any release also release attorneys fee claims. If those claimsare not addressed in the release, the employer runs a major risk. It has likelyidentified the employee as a prevailing party simply by entering into thesettlement agreement conferring benefits. The employee can collect thesettlement proceeds and, once the employer s check clears, sue the employer forattorneys fees as a prevailing party.

This trap was sprung onMetropolitan Life in a recent case, Torresv. Metropolitan Life, 80 FEP Cases 104 (3d Cir., June 24, 1999). Met Lifewas defending an employment discrimination case brought by Edward Torres, whoclaimed he had been unlawfully denied participation in Met Life spre-employment training program.

Torres lost when thedistrict court held he could not sue Met Life under Title VII because he wasnever its “employee. Acting as his own attorney, Torres filed an appeal. TheThird Circuit appointed attorneys for the appeal. Those attorneys agreed withMet Life s attorneys to settle the case for $45,000. A written settlementagreement was prepared and signed. The original case was dismissed withprejudice as mandated by the settlement agreement.

Torres cashed Met Life scheck. He then promptly filed a motion seeking an order requiring Met Life topay attorneys fees and expenses totaling $30,427.14 to the law firm that hadhandled his appeal and negotiated the final $45,000 settlement. Met Lifeprotested that the settlement agreement specifically released “all claims,charges or demands including anyclaims Torres may have under Title VII.They even produced affidavits from the two assigned counsel who handledTorres appeal (they had since left the firm) stating they believed theirsettlement agreement settled all of their client s claims including any potentialattorneys fee claim.

Met Life lost. The ThirdCircuit held that Torres was entitled to have Met Life pay his attorneys fees in addition to the $45,000 finalsettlement. The appeals court majority noted the settlement agreement failed tomention attorneys fees at all. That was a fatal mistake. Citing an earlierThird Circuit case, El Club Del BarrioInc. v. United Community Corps., 735 F.2d 98 (3d Cir. 1984), the panelmajority held that “a settlement agreement that is silent as to attorneys feeswill not be deemed to constitute a waiver regardless of the course ofnegotiations.

The majority thus rejectedthe affidavits from Torres assigned counsel. Such extrinsic evidence was“irrelevant because only the language of the settlement agreement mattered.The majority disagreed with the dissenting judge that the agreement s referenceto all Title VII claims necessarilyincluded attorneys fee claims under that law.

The bright-line rule underthis decision is clear. The court held:
If the parties to a settlement agreement wish to extinguish the prevailingparty s claim for attorney s fees, they must do so specifically and expresslyin the terms of the agreement.

Employers should leavenothing to chance. Examine your release agreements. They must “specifically and expressly release all attorneys fees claims under any laws by additional language orby an additional stipulation.

The language of thesettlement agreement controls on thispoint. The parties negotiations and beliefs as to what is being released donot. They are, as the Third Circuit held, legally irrelevant. You must havespecific language within the four corners of your settlement agreement clearlywaiving and releasing all attorneys fee claims. If you don t, that “finalsettlement you thought you had will suddenly become much more expensive. No personnel director wants that.

Copyright © 1999 Nixon Peabody LLP. All rightsreserved.

The information contained inthis article is intended to provide useful information on the topic covered,but should not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion.

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T’was the Night Before Christmas, HR-Style

T’was the night before Christmas, when all through the store,
Few employees were working; the rest were quite bored.


The network was down; there wasn’t a spare,
Even the IT folks were pulling out their hair.


Gen X-ers played football, the endzone a desk,
The Boomers rolled eyes and belittled these pests.
The quarterback Shawn got a cut on her face,
I knew that soon OSHA would visit this place.


Then straight from my briefcase there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my cubicle to see what was the matter.
The cell phone was ringing, I knew it quite clear,
My emotions were torn ‘tween curiousity and fear.


The voice on the end of the phone gave me pause,
It wasn’t Bill Gates, and not Santa Claus.


What to my joyous ears should I hear,
But the sound of HR, somewhere very far from here.


With a little old voice, so sweet and inspired,
They told me our firm had just been acquired.
From London and Brisbon and Lima they came,
A multinational conglomerate, I forgot the name.
No downsizing! No layoffs! No TQM and firings!
On hope! On faith! On plenty of hirings!
To the top of the world! To the top of Wall Street!
A buyout awaits! This offer can’t be beat!


A dream job was here, and no one could stop me,
Not even Ms. Reno could call this a monopoly.

So off to the blue cooler I flew,
I settled for water, though it was high time for brew.


I smiled with glee, and jumped up and down,
Our HMO would finally include ultrasound.


Our 401(k) plan, which now wasn’t nice,
Would soon be administered by T. Rowe Price.


I’d now have to comply with the FMLA,
But my son and I would have three months to play.


Training employees would involve lots of red tape,
But my budget would rise by a factor of eight.


Candidates would flock to the ‘Net for our jobs,
Our rivals need resumes; we would have gobs.


Our name would include an ‘e’ and ‘dot com,’
No one would know why but my four-year-old Tom.

We’d outsource the payroll and more paperwork,
They’d reassign stuff that drove me berzerk.


I knew not the details, only one major fact,
This was finally a chance to make a real impact.


My greatest joy, I have to reveal,
That the CEO was the only one gone in the deal.


I sprang to the intercom, and got down on my knees,
Hit pound thirty-four to page employees.
I told them what happened, and about the White Knight,
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.


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Harassment-Free Holiday

In this age of tough sexual harassment and employment discrimination laws, Corpedia.com gives its annual tips to keep the lawsuit “Grinch” from stealing your company party’s holiday cheer.


  1. Keep Santa in line.
    Don’t allow your employees to sit on his lap. The local Rent-a-Santa probably doesn’t conduct background checks.


  2. Watch the holiday “Cheers.”
    Keep a close eye on alcohol consumption and inebriated employees. If necessary, arrange for transportation. The price for cab fares is far better than the cost of a negligence lawsuit due to a drunk-driving employee.


  3. Assign designated “party watchers.”
    Make sure they’re sticklers (like those accounting types) who will be strict on excessive drinking or other inappropriate behavior.


  4. Don’t ignore feisty holiday spirit.
    Overly romantic displays of affections can be a serious matter.


  5. Watch the reindeer games.
    Discourage activities that invite touching or personal revelations. This includes the all-time party favorite “The Rumba Line.”


  6. Encourage employees to bring their significant others.
    Their presence discourages intra-office flirting and almost always ensures your workers are good little boys and girls.


  7. Monitor any gift giving.
    Discourage the exchange of offensive or inappropriate gifts that have sexual or romantic overtones.


  8. Start and end the party early.
    This can keep “God rest ye merry gentlemen” from becoming “Bob, arrest these merry gentlemen!”


  9. Lock up the copy machine.
    Blotchy copying problems may be the least of your worries if daring employees get their hands on it.


SOURCE: Corpedia, Mesa, AZ, December 16, 1999.

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Keeping Records When One of Your Employees Gets a Cut

Issue: You are the HR manager for a publishing company, and one of your duties is ensuring compliance with the injury and illness recordkeeping requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). In the course of a week, one of your employees suffered a mild scissors cut that required a bandage, while a second employee suffered a more serious laceration from a paper cutter. The latter employee’s wound was closed using butterfly adhesive dressings. Are both incidents of medical treatment recordable for OSHA recordkeeping purposes?


Answer: No, only the paper cutter laceration. In 1971, OSHA issued a regulation, Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, which states that occupational injuries involving medical treatment must be recorded on the OSHA No. 200—Log and Summary of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses.


In 1986, OSHA published the Recordkeeping Guidelines for Occupational Injuries and Illnesses to provide employers with supplemental instructions to the recordkeeping forms. OSHA provides the following guidance for distinguishing between medical treatment and first aid:


Medical treatment.
The following are generally considered medical treatment. Work-related injuries for which this type of treatment was provided or should have been provided are almost always recordable …


  • Application of SUTURES (stitches)
  • Application of BUTTERFLY ADHESIVE DRESSING(S) or STERI STRIP(S) in lieu of sutures….

First aid.
The following are generally considered first aid treatment (e.g., one-time treatment and subsequent observation of minor injuries) and should not be recorded if the work-related injury does not involve loss of consciousness, restriction of work or motion, or transfer to another job:


  • Application of BANDAGE(S) during any visit to medical personnel.

Wound closure vs. wound covering.
The underlying distinction in these types of treatment is between wound closures and wound coverings. Sutures (stitches), Steri Strips™, staples, butterfly adhesive dressings, etc., are all classified as wound closures, which are intended to align the edges of wounds and to promote healing. On the other hand, bandages (Band-Aids™, gauze pads, etc.) are wound coverings, which are intended to prevent the invasion of bacteria and infection to an open wound.


The application of a wound closure is considered medical treatment for OSHA recordkeeping purposes, while the use of a wound covering is deemed to be first aid treatment.


Therefore, in the scenario above, a mild scissors cut that is dressed with a bandage would be considered first aid treatment and not recorded for OSHA injury and illness recordkeeping purposes.


However, the use of topical skin adhesives to close a wound, such as a serious laceration from a paper cutter, would be considered medical treatment for OSHA purposes. A work-related laceration that receives this type of medical treatment would have to be recorded on the OSHA Log 200.


CITE: 29 CFR Part 1904—Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illnesses; Recordkeeping Guidelines for Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, pp 42-43.


Source: CCH Incorporated is a leading provider of information and software for human resources, legal, accounting, health-care and small-business professionals. CCH offers human resource management, payroll, employment, benefits, and worker-safety products and publications in print, CD, online and via the Internet. For more information and other updates on the latest HR news, check our Web site at http://hr.cch.com.


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.


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Essential Skills IT Workers Need

Many organizations are helping IT workers gain the non-technical skills they need through training and development opportunities. But before scheduling another training session, organizations should make sure the program focuses on the following critical areas of development:


  • Interpersonal relationship skills.
    Expertise alone is not enough to establish credibility with a client. To win a client’s trust, internal IT consultants must be able to listen, relate to the client’s specific needs and gain his or her confidence.
  • A strong customer orientation.
    Before proposing a solution, the IT consultant must have a clear understanding of a client’s goals, role and expectations. Internal IT consultants need to have their fingers on the pulse of the organization and seek ongoing feedback to ensure the client’s expectations are being met.
  • Diagnostic insight.
    Effective internal IT consultants are able to analyze problems from all angles. Their recommendations must support the strategic direction of their organization, while meeting a client’s individual needs.
  • Versatility.
    Internal consultants must be able to communicate with people at all levels of the organization. In order to create solutions that stand the test of implementation, the need to translate a client’s objectives into workable strategies that are accepted throughout the organization.
  • Persuasion skills.
    While IT consultants need to be responsive to their clients’ needs, they must also be able to help a client see the value of their recommendations, even when they differ from the client’s point of view. Knowing when to take a stand for what they believe is right makes internal IT consultants invaluable in setting organizational strategies.

Even the most well-thought-through training program won’t work if an individual isn’t motivated to invest the time and energy into it. Make sure IT professionals understand how their development efforts will impact their performance and advance their long-term career objectives.


SOURCE: Personnel Decisions International