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| Welcome | Welcome to the November 2007 edition of the Credential Check Examiner! This month we look at the safety of your organization during large events, the online activities of executives, employee mental illness, sex offenders in the workforce, and job growth in Michigan.
As always, please feel free to reply with your comments and suggestions!
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| Safety of Your Business During Large Scale Events
|  When your city sponsors or allows a large attraction in your city, it could pose security risks to your organization. The risks associated with large events do not simply include the obvious risks from the event crowd. For example, during large events, there are a plethora of risks related to the distraction that such an event causes or the strain on city wide resources. Additionally, many organizations take the opportunity to engage in the activities themselves or piggy back with the activity by sponsoring their own events. Whether your city’s attraction is large or small and regardless of whether your organization’s participation is active or passive, you must consider the security ramifications that any large event has on your organization’s safety.
Obviously, the risks associated with any event are specific to your business, your location, and the event. For example, locations that are physically distant from the site of the event have a very different type and level of exposure than locations within the perimeter of the event itself. Although some organizations may have the security personnel to fully explore the complete range of security risks, others will need to consult with external security experts to flush out the particular risks that any event poses to your organization.
For example, organizations should explore the ways in which the public accesses your building, the security personnel utilized and the relevance of your training. Your organization’s safety strategy should be customized and cost effective in relation to your organization and the event contemplated. Organizations should not hesitate to reach out to third party experts to provide or supplement their internal security expertise because, when there is a large scale event, it is paramount to provide their company and their employees with the best methods to safely maximize the opportunities of a large scale event.
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| Online Activities of Executives Curtailed
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Fad or trend? Whole Foods Market Inc., the world's largest retailer of natural and organic foods, with stores throughout North America and the United Kingdom, has made changes to its corporate code of business conduct, such that company executives are now barred from posting messages on external online forums that pertain to Whole Foods, its vendors, or its competitors. The move comes after CEO John Mackey made online postings from 1999-2006 that have become the focus of an SEC investigation.
The nature of Mackey’s postings, which appeared on a Yahoo! Finance Stock forum under an alias, and came during a period of time when Whole Foods was attempting to buyout Wild Oats Markets, may become clearer as the SEC continues its investigation. Although the postings initially appear to be limited to criticism of Wild Oats, one can surmise that the SEC is ultimately concerned about whether the postings were an attempt to eliminate a competitor, as well as the potential dissemination of insider trading information. Assuming that Mackey is not alone in his behavior, and that members of other organizations are engaging in similar or worse behavior, the move to curtail the online forum behavior of executives could potentially create a precedent which evolves to include other types of online behavior and affects employees other than just executives.
Clearly the decision by Whole Foods is not only an acknowledgement of the social responsibility of its executives, but also an attempt to restrict the potential practice of unfair business practices and the potential for leakage of critical, or even inside, information. Time will tell as to whether this sort of policy is adopted by other organizations and extended to include lower level employees.
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| | Employer Responsibility Concerning Employee Mental Illness | As the workplace becomes increasingly stressful and lives become progressively complicated, it is more likely than not that an employer will see increases in mental health issues among their staff. Often it has simply become clear to the employer that the employee is slipping in their work, not meeting deadlines, or is lacking in concentration. Although these issues could be easily explained either by laziness or the presence of personal distractions, it is possible that there may be a more serious underlying issue. Under certain conditions, the employer will fail to recognize the potential for a mental illness; however, they have a responsibility to protect the rights of the company, as well as the rights of the employee.
A failure to recognize and deal with mental illness can cause serious financial consequences for an employer. According to the National Mental Health Association, untreated mental illness costs U.S. businesses about $105 billion in productivity each year, $44 billion of which is paid directly by the employers. Under legal precedent, the ADA looks at mental illness as a disability and therefore considered to be a protected population under Human Rights. Legally, employers are required to make reasonable accommodations as long as those accommodations do not cause undue hardship to the company. Employers are also required to provide a supportive environment in which the employee can have the opportunity to improve, while maintaining confidentiality regarding the employee’s situation.
Employees who have mental illnesses have a right to work in a safe environment that is free from discrimination and harassment. They also have the right to receive accommodations within the company. Since there is not a set list of specifications, employees and management must reach a compromise about what is reasonable to both parties. Depending on the nature of the company, different benefits should be available, such as insurance that provides mental health coverage. Examples of this may include short and/or long term disability or personal days that can be used on days where treatment or therapy is necessary. Employees also have the right to speak up when they feel that their special needs are not being met by the organization. If concerns cannot be resolved internally, consulting a lawyer, HR commission, or an external EAP program are options that should be utilized.
In addition to understanding the rights of both parties, it is also important for employers to understand something about mental illness - not so they can become a diagnostician or mental health expert, but rather so they can identify issues to better help their employees. Common impacts of mental illness may have the following effects; decreased motivation, chronic fatigue, decreased concentration, increases in errors and confusion, difficulty making decisions, irritability or socially withdrawing behavior, anxiety or restlessness, and increased tardiness. If any combination of these symptoms exists, contact your HR or EAP group to aid in assessing that individual. Although it is important not to make a diagnosis unless you are a mental health professional, you can encourage the employee to seek assistance from other resources.
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| | Sex Offenders... in the Workforce |  Most of us are aware of the controversies around the existence of sex offenders who live and work in our community. In most cases, we can avoid such individuals if we know about the nature of their prior convictions. However, how do we handle a situation in which we are forced to see such offenders daily in the workplace? Although we may learn how to react as co-workers, employers have the difficult task of avoiding the legal ramifications that can accompany the employment of convicted felons.
Pre employment screening is essential to detect any past violations. Employers as well as any other hiring managers should be aware of questions to ask in an interview, and be mindful to get details if felony convictions are mentioned. A thorough checking of references can also be very helpful in determining if a person’s criminal history is significant enough to reject the applicant for the job. If past charges of a sexual nature are mentioned, online data registries, such as Megan’s List, can confirm information about the person as well as provide details about the offense.
Often it is the case that employers find out about someone’s sex offender status after they have already been employed. An employer could be found negligent under a common law tort claim for failure to recognize initially that an individual was unfit for hire. A plaintiff can claim that the employee caused harm and can state that the employer should have known about his or her unfitness. However, there are steps an organization can take to determine what action is necessary and protect themselves.
When the information surfaces, the employer should research the individual on a registry and collect details about the nature of the conviction. Legally, state agencies should be consulted to determine what obligations and restrictions exist. Court documents and public records can be obtained and analyzed to explore all of the details. While the company looks into the matter, the employee’s duties may have to be altered, depending on the nature of the offense in relation to the employee’s exposure to other workers and customers. The employee should be told that the issue is being reviewed, but that no decision about termination will be made until the process is complete. When all information has been collected and reviewed, the employer can make an educated decision about whether the individual can remain employed, even if his or her duties have to be permanently altered for the protection of others. In many cases, it will be determined that the employee is not suitable to remain employed.
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| | Get to Know: Project Gutenberg |  Project Gutenberg is, according to its own definition, a volunteer effort to digitize, archive, and distribute cultural works. What it is in lay terms is an e-book archive run by volunteers. Adding an estimated 400 e-books a month, Project Gutenberg is an archive of many different types of works, from Moby Dick, to music, to the Human Genome project. Further, the Gutenberg Project is free to use and only publishes material that is considered free of copyright. So everything that is available is either done so with permission from the author, or was created before 1923 (when copyright laws really got their teeth). You can also download software (called Plucker) so that you can read these works on your Palm or other PDA. If you have yet to visit Project Gutenberg, check it out.
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| | Job Growth in Michigan in 2008 and Beyond | The Southeastern Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG), a regional planning organization that unifies several municipalities in the Detroit area for major political and economic development plans, released their estimate for the future of the Metro Detroit area, and to say the least, the future shows promise. It's impossible to ignore the recession our state is exclusively experiencing, as indicated by the almost never-ending lull in employment. The good news delivered by SEMCOG is that the recession WILL END, relatively speaking. Furthermore, it would seem the analysis by SEMCOG agrees with my own assessments of Michigan's future.
Michigan's recovery may be slow, but it is going to happen. Privately owned small business will still flourish and become the new foundation for Michigan as the workforce experiences a gradual decrease over the next decade. It's refreshing that SEMCOG agrees with me there as well. Small business is KEY to Michigan's economy. I've said on several occasions that The Big Three are not so big anymore and Michigan can't depend on them. Sure, you can dismiss the opinion of one person, but the estimate by SEMCOG rang so true to me that I wanted to quote it here:
"Even if downsizing and restructuring turn these companies into profitable enterprises again, the evidence suggests that Southeast Michigan should no longer rely on domestic automotive production to propel economic growth."
What was disappointing in the SEMCOG data, was the absence of true evidence of a replacement for the automotive industry as the hub of the state's economy. While none of us has a crystal ball, I was hoping that there would be more direction shown in the data. What is clear is that even as jobs increase in Michigan, they won't be in the auto industry. It's time to accept that and move on.
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| | Contact Information | If you are interested in obtaining additional information about these articles or the services offered by Credential Check Corporation, please contact one of the following individuals:
Thank you! We'll see you next month!
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