A brief about what is a zero

tolerance in generally

speaking :

� Zero tolerance imposes automatic punishment for infractions of a stated rule, with the

intention of eliminating undesirable conduct. Zero-tolerance policies forbid persons in

positions of authority from exercising discretion or changing punishments to fit the positions of authority from exercising discretion or changing punishments to fit the

circumstances subjectively; they are required to impose a pre-determined punishment

regardless of individual culpability, extenuating circumstances, or past history. This pre-

determined punishment need not be severe, but it is always meted out.”Wikipedia”.

� My understanding for this policy that it means no mistakes to be made , no infractions ,

no offenses , no ……………….. , simply “ Nothing but that we allow”

History of Zero Tolerance

During the late 1960s and the early 70s, some states lowered their drinking age from 21 to 18. In a lot of these states, it was shown that there was an increase in fatal car accidents for teenagers affected by these laws.

Because of these findings, Congress set a national minimum Because of these findings, Congress set a national minimum drinking age of 21 in 1984. States that did not adopt this 21 as the minimum drinking age were at risk of losing a portion of their federal highway construction funds from the federal government. By 1988, all states had adopted this minimum drinking age.

The concept for the zero tolerance law is that since it is illegal for people under the age of 21 to drink alcoholic beverages, it should also be illegal for them to operate a motor vehicle with any alcohol in their system.

History of Zero

Tolerance(cntd)� While there is no official definition of the term zero tolerance, generally the term means that a harsh predefined

mandatory consequence is applied to a violation of school rules without regard to the ―seriousness of the behavior, mitigating circumstances, or the situational contextǁ (APA, 2006). Zero tolerance is incompatible with the principle that the punishment must fit the crime, and that the severity of the crime and the context in which it occurred should be considered in determining the punishment.

� Zero tolerance policies grew out of the illicit drug interdiction programs of the federal and state governments in the late 1970s and 1980s where vehicles, vessels and airplanes were confiscated when even small amounts of illicit drugs were found (Skiba & Knesting, 2001).

� Zero tolerance rhetoric became widespread as school officials and community leaders expressed outrage at gang shootings and national media reports about school shootings, even though school crime rates were stable or shootings and national media reports about school shootings, even though school crime rates were stable or declining by the time these policies were implemented.

� The Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994 (GFSA), which required that schools have policies to expel for a calendar year any student who brings a firearm to school, provided further impetus to zero tolerance policies. Subsequent changes in many state laws and local school district regulations broadened the GFSA focus on firearms to apply to many other kinds of weapons.

� However, the same act does provide for the chief administering officer of the local educational agency ―to modify the one year expulsion requirement for students on a case–by–case basisǁ (GFSA, 2005).

� Zero tolerance policies have generally involved harsh disciplinary consequences such as long-term suspension or expulsion for violations involving drugs, alcohol, aggression (such as fighting) and having weapons, but have also been applied to minor or non-violent violations of rules such as tardiness and disorderly conduct.

� source: Reece L. Peterson Ph.D., Univ. of Nebraska-Lincoln & Brian Schoonover Ph.D., St. Johns County, FL .

What does it mean when it

comes to companies . � As our main concern in this policy is what

does it mean as adopted policy in some

companies , then we are to explain the

meaning , the purposes , the implementation meaning , the purposes , the implementation

tools , the mechanism , the targeted people

by such policy , who likes and who does not ,

the consequences .

legal definition for Zero

Tolerance policy� The policy of applying laws or penalties to

even minor infringements of a code in order

to reinforce its overall importance and

enhance deterrence,("Zero Tolerance legal definition of enhance deterrence,("Zero Tolerance legal definition of

Zero Tolerance. Zero Tolerance synonyms by the Free Online Law

Dictionary.." Legal Dictionary. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2011.

<http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Zero).

Main features in regard to

ZT policy � It is all about implementing the companies

literal policies (customers are our concern and keep them

satisfied).

� It is also about being clear that we don’t allow mistakes , infractionsmistakes , infractions(No smoking , Do not leave the

office during work hours) .

� The company is not home (Do not dress as home )

� The companies equipments are red lines and only for official use (Do not make personal calls using

companies phones , Do not use the Internet to chat with your friends).

Goals of Zero Tolerance

� operational excellence by “follow the roles and the procedures” . Example: a company that produce high quality product with well-educated employees can avoid the deficits in the final products by using such policy .

� Productivity : by using every single work’s minute for work and produce , maximize the productivity will work and produce , maximize the productivity will result also in an economy of scale .

� Gaining more customers and keep them longer : well trained employees who are adopting and implementing zero tolerance know that the customer comes first so they deal with him/her nicely and have them feel good this also will lead to two things

Continued :

� A. competitive advantage

� B. Good Image for the company

� Avoid some unexpected problems or threats

might happen (carrying guns , possessing

drugs or drinking al-kohol during the work

hours.

� The whole policy could likely and potentially

contribute positives at the long-term goals

Assessment of internal

environmentThe internal environment here is the company

environment which contains the following

players : employees at all levels , the company’s

equipments , the constitution or work equipments , the constitution or work

resolution,the company’s high level managers .

The initial assessment of

the internal environment � The way they have used to enter the office was kind of disrespect to

one of the company’s employees

� They took him immediately without identifying themselves and

without mentioning anything about the reason behind that action

� The women he met when he got down to the company’s parking he � The women he met when he got down to the company’s parking he

has never laid his eyes on her and he did not recognize her as a HR

manager , how come that an employee does not the HR manager.

� The HR manager told him that he will receive a letter that includes

the policies that he has violated , the question here why they did not

let him know from the first violation he has done and why did not

they give him a warnings before he got that point .

Critical variables

� The internal policy and the firm’s constitution , how clear is it and when any adjustments or added points take place how can the company assure and ensure that the employees have known and realized the changes have been made .

� The punishment steps , the laid down rules and laws regarding to the consequences of violating the policies or doing wrongs .

� The transparency

� The justice and the rights of the employees to know � The justice and the rights of the employees to know

� The productivity and efficiency of the employees

� The nature of the wrongs and who decides the wrongs and the rights

� Who judge ?

� How the termination process take place without pre-alarm

� The intranet set up

� The IT specialists

� The top level management follow-up on their employees

� Continuous contact between the different levels in the firm

� Totality or comprehensive regimes so there is no justice or even making judgement

Alternative solution

� To our case there might be an alternative solution the company could have followed to deal with Simon’s case

A. They should have warned the employee the first time he made wrong or violated the rules

B. They should have made regular mail reminder that indicates all the prohibited action

C. They should have kept continued touch with their employees and weekly or monthly meetings in order to keep the employees informed with the updates

D. They should have made a clear and unambiguous zero tolerance , they could have re-written that policy in more understandable and determined , more specific details

E. They should not have generalized the incident of that husband who entered the loopy with pistol calling on his wife after she asked for divorced.

F. The company also should have taken into the consideration many other factors when it comes to the firing

Continued

A. The nature of the offense

B. The frequency of the offense by the same employee

C. The employee professional profile

D. The extended impact of the offense

E. The social impact of firing E. The social impact of firing

F. The cost-benefit of firing

G. The company’s reputation

H. The JUSTICE implementation

I. The internal impact of firing good loyalist employee , how the other

employee will perceive that action

Optimal solutions

� An adjusted policy with desired outcomes might be as following :

1.It is called adjusted zero-tolerance policy

2.To be clearly written

3.To be more detailed

4.To be well-organized in terms of implementation 4.To be well-organized in terms of implementation

5.To be explained and re-minded to the employees by the simple tools

6.The technician offenses and information system related classified offenses are to be determined by professional detectives

7.There should be always a second chance

8.It has to let the other side’s story to be heard

9.The people who are in-charge of this policy should be qualitatively and quantitatively be skilled to make judgments and the final decision should be carefully taken after following all the prior steps

10. It also might have what I call (Productivity-Firing ) ratio analysis , because we are talking about firms not schools .

Implementation of the

optimal solution� How to implement these solutions

� Well-qualified HR staff

� Periodic meetings with the employees

� Deepening the loyalty by motives-bundle

� Printing prohibited-list and putting it in seeable places � Printing prohibited-list and putting it in seeable places

� Encourage the employees to implement all the rules

� Differentiate between the disaster and the incident

� It should focus on preventing the wrongs not on punishing the people and this message should also be clearly delivered to the employees .

� Blocking the internet for personal uses so the employees know that they cannot use it

�