Chapter 11Employee Welfare, Health and Safety

Multiple Choice QuestionMultiple Choice Question

In most hotels, The Human Resource department…

a) hires staff

b) sets labor policies

c) defines the duties of employees

d) All of the above

2

e) None of the above

Pay Attention Today!

3

What’s the meaning of Welfare provision ?

Welfare provision generally refers to those policies which are directed at some aspect of employee well being

both in a physical and emotional sense.

Why should organizations have a welfare policy ?

For saving costs by reducing absence and improving the

performance of employees in the workplace by addressing any problem or concerns that they

might have.

Three Common “Welfare Rationales”

1. Legal-Reactive

2. Corporate Conscience

3. Company Paternalism

( Marriott, Hilton, Holiday Inn and Forte )

Employee Blogging

Let’s work together and form a policy for the employee handbook regarding blogging

Harvard Law School's policy reads exactly how you'd expect Harvard Law School's to read. It actually

starts off with an apology

"We don’t mean to turn you off from blogging by immediately inundating you with legalese, but we need to make clear our respective rights and responsibilities related to this service." By posting your Content using the Services, you are granting Harvard a non-exclusive, royalty-free,

perpetual, and worldwide license to use your Content in connection with the operation of the Services, including, without limitation, the license rights to copy, distribute, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform,

reproduce, edit, translate and reformat your Content, and/or to incorporate it into a collective work.

How can you accomplish this without so many words?

With this two-word corporate blogging

policy:

"Be professional"

In general, the employee handbook should be approached

as a guideline for workplace expectations and policies.

The more detailed the handbook becomes, the more likely it is to become a problem for employers

and employees alike.

Any ideas on a policy regarding dress-code?

Do we need a policy?

Let’s develop an employee manual tonight and

KISS

(Keep It Simple Stupid)

Welfare…. A variety of issues

Absence Management

(Direct and Indirect)

Direct Costs

- Occupancy sick pay

- Lost production

- Replacement Staff

Indirect Costs

- Burdens on another members

- Leading poor morale

- Lower productivity

- Reduce customer retention

Organization should have a basic sickness absence policy.

Outline the process employees must follow if taking time of sick

Require sick-note Return-to-work interviews

What should our policy be regarding attendance and

absences?

Prevention is better than CureManagement seeks to adopt a proactive approach in creating a healthy organization and aims to help employees to look and feel better and to be physically healthy or fit.

Gym on site and expert advice.(nutrition)

Prevention is better than Cure (Continue)

Monitoring aspects such as employees’ heart rate, blood pressure, cholesterol and body weight.

Should the company be able to monitor an employee’s health?

Aids / HIVAids presents a major managerial challenge encompassing moral, social and medical issues resulting from health, safety, legal and humanitarian problems (Arkin 2005)

Responding to sensitive issues

A member of staff in your travel agency comes to you and informs you that they are HIV positive.

How do you react ?How do you react ?

What’s your policy?What’s your policy?

Adam-Smith and Goss(1993)

Three potential responses to the perceived risk of infection in the workplace.

- Rational Response

- Bounded Rationality Response

- Subjective Response

Policy responses to AIDS / HIV

Total denial that AIDS/HIV is a workplace issue.

Wait and see approach. Deliberate no-policy decision and

reliance on existing arrangements. AIDS/HIV to be treated as any other

life-threatening disease. Introduce specific policy.

Why we should have AIDS/HIV Policy ?

Countering misunderstanding, lack of knowledge, fear and prejudice.

HIV Disability Discrimination Act.

Alcohol / Drug useAlcohol / Drug use The commonest causes. One in four accidents at work are due to

alcohol misuse.

Direct and Indirect Affects

Costs of accidents Lower productivity Poor quality work Bad decisions Damage to the organization reputation Absenteeism

Direct and Indirect Affects(Continue)

Unreliability Managers losing time in dealing with

problems Increased labor turnover

Create an environment in the work place

Long working hoursAvailability of alcohol in the workplaceStressful… employees are expected to be

positive while working

Developing policy on alcohol and drugs

Including any legal obligationsA clear outline of the aims and purposes Detail of the responsibility of different

staffTighter restrictions for any particular

groupsDefinition of rule and procedures

regarding prescription medicine

Review and reflect

“ Peer pressure is likely to have more impact on changing behavior with regards to alcohol or drugs than organizationally directed interventions”

Do you agree?Do you agree?

Drug and alcohol testing

The moral, ethical and legal aspects of testing

Testing is the best way to address the problem of misuse

Whom to test?Whom to test?

What’s our policy regarding drugs and alcohol?

Sexual harassment

What constitutes sexual harassment?”

Patting, hugging or touching a co-workerComments about the way a women looksLewd remarks or glances directed towards a male

from a female employeeQuestions about an employees sex lifeRequests for sexual favorsAllowing suggestive posters of either sex in the

workplace

A new definition of sexual harassment

“Any form of unwanted verbal, non-verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature which occurs with the purpose of violating the dignity of a

person, in particular when creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading,

humiliating or offensive environment”

Why employers should take action to prevent sexual harassment?

• Protecting the company image

• Avoiding litigation

• Reducing absenteeism

• No employee suffer from sexual harassment

• The work place should be safe from harassing behavior

Tourism and HospitalityA breeding ground for sexual harassment?Hotel often suggest the promise of sexual

activity?Waiters flirt with customer increase

customer spend and their own tips

Sexual harassment does not refer to the occasional compliments of a socially acceptable nature.

It does not refer to mutually acceptable joking or teasing.

It refers to the behavior which is • Unwelcome• Personally offensive• Debilitating to morale

therefore, interferes with work effectiveness

StressStressThink about what makes you stressed at work…how

can stress by alleviated…is alleviating stress a personal issue or a company issue.

DemandsDemandsControlControlSupportSupportRelationshipsRelationshipsRoleRoleChangeChange

Working Time

Flexible work hours

Split shifts

Whatever works

What’s our policy regarding scheduling?

Do we have a policy about work place violence?

Check-out these websites:

www.safetyworld.com

www.worksafebc.com

www.ossa.com

www.osha.gov

What policies in your typical handbook can't be distilled

into the two words

"respect others"?

Policies about harassment and

discrimination and office romance are all about respecting coworkers.

Policies about trade secrets and computer

usage and even attendance are all about respecting the company.

Policies about dealing with customers or

answering the phone or about handling

complaints are about respecting the

customers.

Even policies about drugs and alcohol are all

about respecting yourself.

Let’s take a break and return for a discussion

Multiple Choice QuestionMultiple Choice Question

In most hotels, The Human Resource department…

a) hires staff

b) sets labor policies

c) defines the duties of employees

d) All of the above

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Who does these jobs?

Hire Staff

Sets employee policy

Defines the duties of staff

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The final responsibility is in the hands of the department head

Top Management set policy

(GM and dep’t heads) define the duties of each category of employee

What does the H/R dep’t do?Recommend and formalize the duties of staff and

Administer, Interpret and Implement plans, policies, duties, etc

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5 Ways to Know When It’s Time to Get Out of HR

1. You actually look forward to firing someone

2. You say, “This would be a great job if it weren’t for the people” and mean it

3. You don’t think that anyone can get a 5 in a 5-point rating scale

4. You think that it’s just a matter of the right forms, no exceptions

5. You can no longer say no to management, even when it’s the right thing to do