Michigan Employment Law

In December, for the first time in more than 25 years, the Michigan Workers’ Disability Compensation Act saw some major changes.  These changes are widely considered to be advantageous for employers.  Among the significant changes:

1.         Wage Earning Capacity is Redefined

2.         A Connection Between Wage Loss and Disability is Required

3.         Must Establish Medically Distinguishable Pathology

4.         Adds to the Definition of Mental Disability

5.         Changes the “100-Week Rule”

6.         Extends the Period When the Employer Controls Medical Treatment

7.         Expands Credit for Unemployment Benefits and Qualifying Pensions

8.         Requires the Magistrate to Take Into Account the Affect of Any Internal Joint Replacement Surgery, Internal Implant or Other Similar Medical Procedure When Determining Whether a Specific Loss has Occurred

9.         Restructured Redemptions

10.       Adjusts the Calculation of Interest

Now, I’d like to be able to tell you all that I know all about the changes, but that just wouldn’t be true. Fortunately, I work at a law firm with someone who does. Geri Drozdowski practices in the area of Workers’ Compensation law and she wrote an excellent article explaining all of this for you.  In fact, I stole her headings for this post.

So, if you need an update on this important change in the law or if you are just curious, you can find Geri’s article at http://www.wnj.com/Publications/Michigans-New-Workers-Disability-Compensation-Ac

I read an interesting article in Crain’s Detroit Business this morning.  Seems the auto industry is having some trouble finding qualified engineers to come to work in Southeast Michigan.  According to Crain’s, “Thousands of new jobs for Southeast Michigan were announced last week during the North American International Auto Show as part of expansions planned by automakers and suppliers.  But recruiting top engineers and others to fill those jobs remains a challenge.”  You can see the full article here.  Now why on earth, with an unemployment rate that still tops 10 percent, are auto suppliers having trouble finding talent?  Seems, according to Crain’s, that “The region and automotive industry also suffers from an image problem . . . .”

That, of course, means that some employers —  not my clients, of course, but some employers — are desperate to hire talent.  And when employers are desperate to hire talent sometimes they let good hiring practices fall by the wayside. And when that happens, employers end up with employees who may not be a very good fit. And employees who may not be a very good fit tend to be the source of problems.  So, I am going to give you two things that I think you should always do when hiring anybody.

1.  Reference checks.  I have seen this happen in the past, and it always causes trouble.  Your HR department is in a bind because you need to get someone on board now.  So you interview a candidate in with a really good résumé but he or she conveniently forgets to provide any references. Or worse yet, the candidate does provide references, or at least the name of the last employer, but no one calls to check.  Two months later, you find out you have an employee  who can’t come to work or does not get along with anyone, or does not have the necessary skills.  You might have found some of this out if you had called the  last employer or the one before that.  Or you might not have. I understand that some employers have policies about telling you stuff, but you would be surprised what people will tell you once you get them talking on the phone.  Besides, what have you got to lose? Call the references.

By the way, candidates won’t provide references or sign a release, DON’T HIRE THEM. People who won’t give you permission to speak to prior employers usually have something to hide.

There are two things to remember here. First, use common sense. Some applicants may be reluctant to have you speak with a current employer. If they do not receive an offer from your company, the inquiry could jeopardize the relationship with their current employer and therefore, you may want to honor the request.  Second, people who have done bad things for a previous employer can change, but they usually don’t.  At any rate, you are going to want to know.

That leads us to other kinds of “background” checks.  Remember, if you are using an outside agency to do this sort of thing – call references, check credit history, conduct criminal background checks, etc.  – you may have to comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act. It would be a good idea to call us before you start doing any of that.  And one more thing on criminal background checks:  The EEOC does not like them.  In fact, in its first multi-million dollar settlement of 2012, Pepsi agreed to pay $3.13 million and provide job offers and training to resolve an EEOC charge alleging that Pepsi’s criminal background check policy discriminated against African‑American applicants.  You can see the EEOC announcement here.  So be careful if you are going to use them, and again, give us a call so we can help you put a policy in place that will keep you out of trouble.

2.  Job Applications.  You have one, right?  Make sure every candidate fills one out.  Completely.  Sounds stupid, right?  Well it is not.  I know some people think that asking an applicant to fill out a job application, particularly an applicant with a résumé, is a really nice way to consume 15 or 20 minutes while you’re trying to figure out where the first interview is.  In fact, asking employees to completely fill out your job application can be a really effective way to protect you from hiring a less-than-desirable candidate.  Make sure that every question is answered and that the job application is signed and dated by the applicant. “See résumé” should never be a sufficient answer.

Now that we’ve decided that every applicant is going to fill out the entire job application, answering all of the questions and signing and dating it, you should take a close look at your application to make sure it has a couple of things.  First of all, if you are an at-will employer, make sure your job application has a statement reaffirming the at-will status of any employment relationship for the applicant.  Something like the following will work:

I understand and agree that my employment can be terminated with or without cause and with or without notice at any time at the option of either me or the company.  I understand that no employee of the company has the authority to enter into any agreement for employment for any specified period of time or to make any agreement contrary to the foregoing.

You also want to make sure your job application has is a statement that affirms that the answers provided by the applicant to each of the questions you asked are true and that the applicant understands that he or she can be terminated or denied employment if false statements are made.  You might want to consider something like the following:

I affirm that all of the information contained on this job application is true and complete and that any falsification, misrepresentation or omission herein may result in refusal of, or immediate dismissal from, employment.

This paragraph protects you in a couple of ways.  It gives you an easy way to deny employment to an applicant who lies to you on the job application.  Second, and equally important, it might provide a limit to damages should you, at a later date, have to fire an employee and then discover that he or she made a misrepresentation on the job application.  Without getting into a lot of detail, this is called the after-acquired-evidence doctrine and it can limit your damages significantly should you be sued by someone who lied to you. I know this from experience.

Another way to potentially limit your exposure to litigation is to put a paragraph in the job application that shortens the time during which an employee can bring a lawsuit against you. A statute of limitations sets out how long a person has to file suit.  In Michigan and in many other states, people can agree to a shorter period of time.  In Michigan, it can be as short as six months.  A paragraph like this in your job application should suffice:

I agree that I will not commence any action or suit relating to my employment with the company (or termination of the employment) more than 180 days after the employment action at issue, and I agree to waive any statute of limitations to the contrary. I understand that this means that even if the law would give me the right to wait a longer time to make a claim, I am waiving that right, and any claims not brought within 180 days of the action at issue will be barred.

You should make sure that this paragraph stands out from the rest of the application by using bold print or requiring that the paragraph be initialed separately.

These two simple things may keep you out of a lot of trouble.

I’m not talking about reruns of Gilligan’s Island. (for those of you under 50,  find out what Gilligan’s Island is here).  I’m talking about reruns of blog posts.  “Why, Steve? Why are you posting reruns?” you ask?  Well, there are a couple of reasons:  First, it is the beginning of the holiday season and I just don’t feel like working that hard on a blog post;  Second,  it is important; and  Third, the rules have not changed.

So rather than trying to fool you into believing that I came up with some great new post, I’m going to be straight with you all and tell you up front that I posted this same set of rules last year at about this time.  You can find it here.

With all that being said, here are some things to consider when setting up your holiday party. (By the way, this is not only a rerun, it is a rerun of a rerun.  Greg Kilby  wrote an article on this very topic.  Find it here.)

• Hire professional bartenders: Even if you have an open bar, it is better to have someone such as a bartender dispensing the alcoholic drinks. Instruct bartenders on when to limit alcoholic service. That way, gatekeepers limit the access to the alcohol and can prevent inebriated people from further imbibing.
• Serve food: Make sure there are plenty of things to eat so that people are not drinking on empty stomachs; avoid having too many salty foods since these encourage people to drink more.
• Have plenty of soft drinks: Provide sodas, sparkling juices, bottled water and lots of other appealing “soft” drink options.
• Hand out drink tickets: Give all attendees a limited number of tickets for the open bar; once the tickets are gone, they can purchase their own drinks (reducing your liability) or drink the plentiful soft options.
• Skip the alcohol altogether: Have an earlier holiday gathering, such as a lunch banquet, and do not serve alcohol.
• Offer shuttles or distribute free taxi passes: This makes it easy for employees to get to and from the party without driving. This way, an employee can hitch a ride home that evening and maybe even back to work the next day in a cab.
• Remind everyone of the policies: Before the party, circulate a memo reminding people of your sexual harassment policies; let them know that the policies apply to events outside of the 9-5 environment. Remind supervisors of the rules and what to do if they witness or hear of potential harassment.
• Have a dress code: Suggest a dress code for the party that keeps things professional. Avoiding provocative dress can alleviate some forms of harassment.
• Host a family event: Instead of limiting attendees to employees, invite their spouses or families. Consider inviting clients or business partners. The presence of other people may help keep the event appropriate.
• Avoid certain traditions: While mistletoe may be your favorite decoration of the season, it really does not belong in the office. Avoid anything that could contribute to an environment of harassment.

Happy Holidays.

In this very last installment of Zo’s employee handbook you get two policies for the price of one.  Well, not really two policies, but two pages for your handbook.  The first actually is a policy,  our solicitation and distribution of literature policy.  I know you are asking, do we really need this one?  Well we can argue about it one way or another, but I’m going to put it in anyway, just because.  So here you go, the last policy:

SOLICITATION

AND

DISTRIBUTION OF LITERATURE

To prevent unnecessary interruption of workflow during hours of operation Zo’s limits solicitation and distribution of literature.  Solicitations by employees are prohibited during working time.  Distribution of literature of any kind by employees is prohibited in work areas.  Persons who are not employees of Zo’s are not allowed to be on company premises at any time for the purpose of engaging in either solicitation or distribution of literature, so if you see someone you don’t know walking around handing out leaflets let us know.

Breaks are not work time, so if you want to sell Girl Scout cookies for your daughter do it on your breaks and make sure the person you are pestering is on break too.  Break rooms are not work areas, so again, make sure you put the cookie order sheet in the break room, not at your desk.  If we find the order sheet where it does not belong, we will move it and we won’t buy any cookies.  By the way, if you pester people too much, we are going to make you stop.  So, See Rule 1.

And that is it.  Yep, that is the entire Zo’s employee handbook. Nothing more and nothing less.  What about the FMLA you say?   Zo’s is not big enough for FMLA but you might be.  Will you be surprised to learn that I can help you do that?  How about leaves of absence?  We will deal with them as they come along.  TheADAis going to be our guide in that regard anyway.  How about vacation?  Again, we are pretty small and this was always meant to be an example of a handbook for an employer just starting out.  What we are going to do at Zo’s is put PTO in each employee’s offer letter and move it to the handbook when we get enough employees for it to make sense.  But you might want to put that in now.  And I will tell you one more thing we are going to have that won’t be part of the handbook:  Everyone, and I mean everyone, is going to sign a confidentiality agreement.

So that is what Zo’s is going to do.  But don’t forget, that just might not work for you.  So here are some other things that you might want to consider:  Do you want a personal relationship policy?  (Back in the old days we called these fraternization policies!)  How about an attendance policy?  If so, are you going to have just a statement about attendance or do you think you might want to have some sort of point system?  Are you going to have some sort of a grievance procedure or open door policy?  Do you want to deal with things like breaks and meal periods and holiday pay?  Are you going to do drug tests?

So you see, there are some questions you still need to ask yourself and of course, I will be happy to help you work your way through these things.  And the answer to some of these questions may depend on how far along you are and how many employees you have.

But here at Zo’s, and we may add an additional policy here and there as we go,  this is what we are going to start with. “Can’t be,” you say!  “I just read an article from a ‘Mega Firm’ and they said I need a workplace violence policy!”  Ok, if you are a great big employer with hundreds of employees maybe you do.  But if you are not, do you need to tell people they can’t hit other people or threaten them, or bring a weapon to work? If you do, you better rethink your hiring practices.

I think we can always fall back on Rule 1: Be Professional.

But wait a second, You said in this installment I get two free policies in a single post.  I didn’t forget.  The last, very last thing we are going to give you is an acknowledgment form.  Here is what it says:

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I acknowledge receiving the Zo’s Employee Handbook dated ___________, 2011.  I understand and agree that it is my responsibility to read and understand the policies in this Employee Handbook.  I understand and agree that my employment with Zo’s is at-will and that nothing contained in the Employee Handbook is intended to nor does it alter the at-will nature of my employment.  I agree that this Handbook is not a contract of employment.

I understand and agree that Zo’s reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to change, revise or discontinue any of the policies contained in this handbook at any time, with or without notice.  Zo’s will make every attempt to notify you of any changes to its policies as soon as possible, but the effect of any such change is not dependent on you receiving actual notice of the change.

Employee                                                                                 Date

At Zo’s we also have a Social Security Number privacy policy. Why?  Because Zo’s is based in Michigan and in Michigan we have to have a Social Security number privacy policy law. So here is what the policy says:

SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER PRIVACY

Zo’s understands the importance of protecting the confidentiality of its employees’ Social Security numbers and those collected in the ordinary course of Zo’s business. Neither Zo’s nor any of its employees will unlawfully disclose Social Security numbers obtained during the ordinary course of business. Zo’s will limit access to information or documents containing Social Security numbers to those employees who need the information to do their jobs.

 In addition, Zo’s will shield Social Security numbers displayed on computer monitors or printed documents from being easily viewed by others. Unless required to do so, Zo’s will not use Social Security numbers as personal identifiers, permit numbers, license numbers, or primary account numbers or other similar uses

 Zo’s may use a Social Security number to perform an administrative duty related to employment, including, for example, to verify the identity of an individual; to detect or prevent identity theft; to investigate claims; to perform a credit check, criminal background check or driving history check; to enforce legal rights; or to administer benefits programs.

All provisions of this policy are subject to the language of the Social Security Number Privacy Act of the State ofMichigan.

Seems pretty simple, right?  It is also basically what is required by the law and it is such a straight forward policy that there is nothing much more to talk about.  So have a great day and next week we will wrap up Zo’s employee handbook.

At Zo’s, everyone is going to have a computer and everyone is going to have unlimited access to the Internet and everyone is going to have an e-mail account. And that, as you know, can cause some problems. That means we need a computer use policy. And at Zo’s, when we say computer use we mean not only the computer on your desk, but every thing that you can do with your computer. We mean  how you use your e-mail account, how you use the Internet and what you do on social media. So our computer use policy is going to deal with all of those things. But it might not be as long as you think:

COMPUTER USE POLICY

 Zo’s understands the popularity and usefulness of social networking sites, Internet forums, blogs and other forms of Internet communication and expression (collectively known as social media). Zo’s has no desire to keep employees from realizing the benefits of social media; however, we recognize that the popularity of social media creates challenges.  So when using your computer, your email account, the Internet or social media, see Rule 1.

Zo’s can monitor your Zo’s email account, your use of your work computer and any work computer resources (which includes things like company provided software, your iPad if we give you one, your data use (not the content of phone calls, but maybe the time you spend on them) on your iPhone or Blackberry if we give you one of those and any other computer based resource we give you to use for your job, which we are going to collectively call computer resources) and we may look at them if we believe we have a reason to. Don’t give us a reason to and we won’t.  See Rule 1. Whether you give us a reason or not, it is best to expect that what you say using Zo email, a Zo computer or a Zo computer resource is not going to be private.  After all, you are at work and we pay you, so we get to know what you are doing. That’s just common sense.

When talking about Zo’s products and services always tell people that you work at Zo’s and always tell the truth about the products and services we offer.  Also, don’t post or engage in objectionable (and by objectionable we mean things like demeaning anyone because of their membership in a protected class, see the EEO Policy, or that harasses anyone because of their membership in a protected class, see the Anti Harassment Policy) conduct on Zo’s computer resources or while working.  See Rule 1.  Finally, we respect your right to engage in dialog on social media and the internet while not at work and we respect your rights under section 7 of the NLRA, and what you do on your time is generally your business, so don’t make it Zo’s.  If you are talking about work, See Rule 1.

Now there is one big change to this policy that I never would have put in to a social media policy, or any other policy for that matter, even a couple of months ago, but I put it in this one, and that is . . . . drum roll please . . . . the reference to section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act.  “Is Zo’s a union employer” you ask?  Nope it’s not.  But the National Labor Relations Board is very interested in what is going on with social media these days.  In fact, the Office of the General Counsel of the Board just recently issued Operations-Management Memorandum OM 11-74 on August 18, 2011 that provides a summary of some of its actions regarding section 7 and social media.  Basically, what the Board is saying is that a social medial policy that broadly prohibits employees from doing things like making disparaging remarks about the company is a violation of Section 8(a)(1) of the NLRA.  And that is true if you are a union employer or not.  And please don’t forget, the Board’s jurisdictional requirements are not based on the number of employees you have.  Rather, it is formula based on how much business you do in interstate commerce.  So I thought it would be best just to deal with the section 7 issues up front.  After all, Zo’s is going to need to put up a poster soon anyway.

This is going to be another lawyerly section of the Zo employee handbook.  Why, you ask, is this part lawyerly? Is there a law that requires you to have an anti-harassment policy? Well, sort of.  What the heck does “sort of” mean, Zo? It means that there is no statute that specifically requires you to have an anti-harassment policy, but the U.S. Supreme Court says that if you want to take advantage of a certain defense to a sexual harassment charge, you have to have a policy. And when the Supreme Court says we think it is a good idea that you have a policy. . . well, we lawyers tend to agree. One more thing to keep in mind, look at the title.  I like something like “Policy Against Harassment” not “Harassment Policy”.  The former makes if clear you won’t condone harassment, the latter makes it sound like you allow harassment as long as you do it by the rules.  Oh and it is an anti “harassment” policy, not an anti “sexual harassment” policy.  I just think it is a good idea to make sure employee’s know you won’t tolerate any harassment based on any protected category, not just sex or gender.  So, here we go:

POLICY AGAINST HARASSMENT

It is our policy here at Zo’s to provide a work environment free from harassment. Zo’s will not tolerate any conduct that violates this policy, and will promptly investigate and resolve all alleged complaints and take appropriate disciplinary action against employees who violate this policy.

Zo’s will not tolerate harassment of any employee by any other employee, supervisor, vendor or customer. Harassment for any discriminatory reason, such as sex, race, color, national origin, disability, age, religion, marital status, sexual orientation, or any other protected category, violates Zo’s policy.

Sexual harassment includes unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors or any other conduct of a sexual nature when:  (1) submission to the conduct is made, either implicitly or explicitly, a condition of employment; (2) submission to or rejection of the conduct is used as the basis for an employment decision affecting the harassed employee; or (3) the harassment has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with the employee’s work performance or creating an environment that is intimidating, hostile or offensive to the employee.

You must exercise your own good judgment to avoid any conduct that may be perceived by others as harassment. See Rule 1 in this Handbook.  The following conduct is a partial list of these behaviors:

–                    Unwanted sexual advances

–                    Offering employment benefits in exchange for sexual favors

–                    Making or threatening reprisals after a negative response to sexual advances

–                    Visual conduct: leering, making sexual gestures, displaying of sexually suggestive objects or                                          pictures, cartoons or posters

–                    Verbal conduct: making or using derogatory comments, epithets, slurs and jokes.

–                    Verbal sexual advances or propositions

–                    Verbal abuse of a sexual nature, graphic verbal commentaries about an individual’s body, sexually                           degrading words used to describe an individual, suggestive or obscene letters, notes or invitations.

–                    Physical conduct: touching, assaulting, impeding or blocking movements.

If you believe that you have been subjected to conduct that violates this policy, you must report it immediately to your supervisor, to HR or straight to Zo. Any complaint of alleged harassment will be carefully investigated.  Should there be any violation of this policy, appropriate actions will be taken to correct the matter.. Do not allow an inappropriate situation to continue by not reporting it, regardless of who is creating that situation. No employee in this organization is exempt from this policy. In response to every complaint, Zo’s will take prompt and necessary steps to investigate the matter and will protect your confidentiality as much as is possible, recognizing the need to thoroughly investigate all complaints. Zo’s will take corrective and preventative actions where necessary. Zo’s will not retaliate against any employee who in good faith brings a complaint to the attention of Zo’s or participates in an investigation regarding a complaint. Any employee who violates this policy is subject to discipline, up to and including termination

Now that is a long one, and no doubt a lawyer wrote it, but hey . . . I am a lawyer after all; you can’t shake it all out of me.  You need this one in your handbook, and if you don’t have a handbook you need this one posted on a bulletin board or handed out to employees.

Remember when I said trees would die needlessly  so that the NLRB could force you to put up a poster that was not really needed?  The trees may be getting a reprieve.  The NLRB announced today that it is postponing by more than two months the implementation date for its new notice-posting rule “in order to allow for enhanced education and outreach to employers, particularly those who operate small- and medium-sized businesses.”

The original deadline for posting the notice was November  14, 2011.  That date has been extended to January 31, 2012.  You can find the NLRB’s announcement here.

This is the first policy, required by law, that we are going to have in the Zo’s employee handbook. Well, it is not really required by the law, you can’t discriminate, but are not technically required to have to have a policy like this, but trust me, you really want to have a policy like this to provide at least some protection if you get sued. An EEO policy is one of the first things the EEOC or the MDCR (or whatever your state agency is) is going to look at if you have a charge of discrimination filed against you. That means that this particular policy is going to read a bit more like it was written by a lawyer, although I’ll try to keep it in plain English as much as I can. So here we go:

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

It is the policy of Zo’s that no employee or applicant for employment, will be discriminated against based upon age, race, color, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, veteran status, or other protected class or characteristic established under applicable federal, state or local statute or ordinance.

Zo’s will not condone, permit or tolerate discrimination as described above.  Persons who engage in such discrimination will be subject to appropriate discipline up to and including termination of his/her employment.

If you feel you have been subjected to discrimination, or have witnessed any discrimination, please report it immediately to your supervisor, to HR or straight to Zo. Any complaint of alleged discrimination will be carefully investigated.  Should there be any violation of this policy, appropriate actions will be taken to correct the matter. Zo’s will not tolerate retaliation against anyone who in good faith lodges a complaint under this policy.

Now, that was not that painful, was it?  And not too lawyerly either, right? Here are a couple of things you need to know.

First, sexual orientation, which is included in the list of things we won’t discriminate against, is not a protected category under either Michigan(if you don’t live in Michigan and you are reading this, THANKS, and check your state’s laws. Several states do consider sexual orientation a protected category) or federal law. But at Zo’s we don’t care, we are going to include it anyway. Why? Because we think it is the right thing to do. Second, at Zo’s you can report a problem to your supervisor, or to HR or right to Zo.  You don’t need to allow people to report directly to the owner of the company, but like in a good harassment policy, you do need to give employees an alternative place to report. We will talk about that more in our next post, which will deal with . . . Anti-Harassment.

Last time we talked I gave you the intro page to my new “Zo’s Employee Handbook.” You might recall that I decided to write Zo’s Employee Handbook because when I was helping a client rewrite her company’s employee handbook she told me to write it like I was writing for my own company.

In part one of this little endeavor I gave you my introduction. Now I will admit, having gone back and read it again, that the page sounds more than a bit lawerly. But come on I am, after all, a lawyer. It is just not going to be possible for me to write something and not have some of what I learned in law school come to the surface, no matter how hard I try. Page 2 will be better, I promise.

Page 2 of my handbook is going to look like this:

THE RULES 

Here are the rules we expect you to live by here at Zo’s:

Rule 1.  Be professional.

Rule 2.  When doing your job or anything else at work, see Rule 1.

Yep. That’s it. Two rules that we expect you to follow whenever you are representing the company, dealing with a client or with each other or just doing your job. By “Be professional” we mean use that good judgment we know you have, always be honest, reliable and committed to doing your best. Be a team player and take personal responsibility for your actions. That is not always easy, but we know you can do it.

Here is the first thing you need to know about our rules. I borrowed them. Honesty, remember?  I wrote an article about the Tribune Company handbook way back in the Spring of 2008.  You can see the article here.  http://www.wnj.com/first_thing_we_do:_lets_kill_all_the_lawyers_spring_2008_hr_focus/.

Sam Zell and the Tribune company have a Rule 1 and a Rule 2 and they are very similar to mine.  I have changed them a bit, but the idea came from Mr. Zell.

The second thing you need to know is that these two simple rules cover everything you do at work. Thinking of starting a romantic relationship with a coworker? See Rule 1. Now think again. Thinking of harassing someone? Is that really professional? See Rule 1. Thinking of “fudging” an expense report? Yep. Rule 1 again. Want to exaggerate the performance of the company’s products in an Internet chat room? Rule 1 again.

In fact, I defy you to find a situation at work — your work or at Zo’s — that Rule 1 and Rule 2 don’t cover. You can’t, can you? Of course not.

You see, you may not need a list of 40 things you expect your employee not to do. And then again you may. But at Zo’s we are not going to have that list. We are going to expect our supervisors and employees to know what is right and what is wrong.

Now that means that we are going to have to pay a lot of attention to who we hire; and a lot of attention to training and retraining. And that is going to cost some money. But in the long run, it should be money well spent.

Next time we will talk about EEO policies.