[mage lang="" source="flickr"]us employment law dismissal[/mage] Is an employment tribunal a court of law and subject to the laws of perjury etc.?
I am taking my former employer to tribunal for automatic unfair dismissal after he sacked me when we all volunteered to be laid off, rather than one of us agree to go. Now that he has received the papers, he has fabricated a story that genuinely has no truth whatsoever, even trying to say I accepted voluntary redundancy, despite him not making any redundancy payment. He has submitted this fantasy diatribe as his defence. Can he be prosecuted for perjury / perverting the administration of justice? I can disprove every word of his submission and he knows he has no chance of winning. Also, he has threatened my ex colleagues, both of whom are willing to attend, with the loss of their jobs, if they attend the tribunal to tell the truth!
When you and he give evidence it will be under oath so perjury will apply.
Make sure your case is watertight. Many a person goes into court / tribunal every day a winner and comes out a loser.
Incidentally, you do not have to employ a lawyer but if you do not your chances of winning are greatly reduced. The reason being that you need to know the 'law' as opposed to just thinking you have a good case.
[mage lang="" source="flickr"]california employment law and breaks[/mage]
Minimum Wages On The Rise In California
Attention California Employers: On January 1, 2008, the Minimum Wage rises to $8 per hour from $7.50. So, you will need to make appropriate adjustments to your payroll systems. Further, many employers also are raising their employee's wages that are above the minimum wage in order to retain them.
Other big changes effecting California Employers in 2008 are:
New I-9 Forms, employment verification forms will be required effective December 26, 2007, for all new hires. Expect an increase in work place raids. So, do preventative audits now, and make contingency plans for what to do if you are raided.
Expect a tidal wave of class action wage and hour lawsuits for unpaid overtime, missed meal and rest periods, and working off the clock. The California State Supreme Court ruled this year that the remedy for a missed meal or break period is considered to be a "wage" and not a "penalty".
Therefore, the statute of limitations is now 4 years and not 1 year, creating a huge incentive for class action lawsuits. Accordingly, do a preventative audit now to determine whether you have misclassified any exempt employees or independent contractors. Be sure that employees are taking their 30 minute unpaid meal periods and there 10 minute paid rest breaks and, most importantly, that they are documented.
Expect a flood of Sexual Harassment Lawsuits. Therefore, it is imperative that all employers who have 50 or more employees provide their supervisors with a minimum of 2 hours of sexual harassment prevention training to be in compliance with the law. Further, employers must have written Sexual Harassment Policies. It is not enough just to have them; you must implement them and effectively communicate them to your supervisors and employees.
In addition there are a number of minor changes that are more of a paperwork nuisance for small businesses, such as, AB 650, which requires all employers to notify workers about eligibility requirements to receive the Earned Income Tax Credit, a federal program to aid low-income workers. The notices must go out at the same time or within a week of the IRS W-2 form or 1099 form used for independent contractors.
AB 338, which extends the eligibility time for temporary disability payments.
AB392, which requires employers with at least 25 employees to give workers as many as 10 unpaid days off when a spouse is on leave from military deployment.
AB 869, which requires state labor code enforcers to cross-check with payroll records to make sure all employers are providing workers compensation insurance.
2008 is sure to be a busy year on the employment front for California employers. In order to comply with the ever changing requirements of California law, and to stay out of court, you need to consult with competent employment law counsel.
[mage lang="" source="flickr"]employment law unfair dismissal[/mage] Csaba Laszlo launches legal fight against Hearts after axing
FORMER Hearts manager Csaba Laszlo has started legal proceedings against the Edinburgh club as he seeks compensation for what he claims was unfair dismissal in January. Compromise Agreements
Kenya : Furniture Sector Set for Boom as State Applies New Incentives
allAfrica: African news and information for a global audience Tom's Tribute to Dennis Chavez
Henry’s under fire for discriminatory acts
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleges Henry’s Turkey Service discriminated against its West Liberty-based developmentally challenged workers by subjecting them to wage violations, hostile environment, harassment and other adverse terms and conditions of their employment, according to a determination document obtained by various media outlets. A grievance has been raised in the middle of a disciplinary procedure what do we do?
If you are considering setting up a company in the People's Republic of China (the "PRC") you should be aware that Chinese law is more protective of employees than the laws of many western nations, particularly the United States. The current PRC Labor Law was enacted in 1994; however, a new PRC Labor Contract Law, intended to supplement the Labor Law, is expected to come into force at the end of 2006. This new law contains both bad news and good news from the point of view of the foreign investor; however, in general it further strengthens the protection of employees.
The Bad News:
Severance Pay
Because it is difficult under the PRC Labor Law to terminate open-term labor contracts, employers usually prefer fixed terms. The Labor Contract Law will address this issue by requiring employers to pay severance compensation to employees on fixed term labor contracts if these contracts are not renewed at the end of the contract term. The proposed compensation is at least one month's salary for each year of service.
Company Rules/Employee Handbooks
No provision in the employee handbook or other rules affecting the employee's "personal interest" may be put into force absent consultation with the labor union or other employee representative body (under Chinese law, virtually all employees are required to be unionized).
A Shorter Probationary Period
Currently, the probationary period may be agreed between the employer and employee in the labor contract, but the maximum probation may not exceed 6 months. The Labor Contract Law shortens this period to one month for non-technical work and two months for most technical work (the six-month maximum is still retained for "senior technical work", probably because these highly skilled employees are seen as less vulnerable in the employment market. This is significant because it easier to fire an employee during the probationary period than afterwards.
Non-Competition Clauses
Foreign invested companies in particular have tended to insert post-employment non-competition clauses into labor contracts in order to protect their intellectual property rights in China's "wild west" business atmosphere. Although the Labor Contract Law allows post-employment non-competition restrictions, it will limit their enforceability to two years and restrict the geographical area of applicability to areas where actual competition is likely to occur. In this respect the reform will render Chinese law more similar to US law, since the current Labor Law does not impose any geographic restrictions at all (but does permits a maximum duration of up to three years). The Labor Contract Law goes even further, however, by requiring the employer "buy" a non-competition clause by paying a minimum compensation equal to the employee's annual salary upon termination of the labor contract. It is still unclear what, if any compensation will be due the employee if the period of restriction is less than a year.
Contract Interpretation
Any ambiguous term in a labor contract will be construed in favor of the employee. This rule does little more that codify what has long been the prevailing practice in PRC courts.
Representative Offices
The current Labor Law requires Representative Offices to go through designated agencies such as FESCO (similar to Manpower in the United States) in order to hire employees. The new Labor Contract Law offers Representative Offices greater flexibility by allowing them to directly contract with employees for their first year of employment.
In summary, the new Labor Law will restrict foreign investor's flexibility and make it more expensive for them to operate. The only good news is that Representative Offices will find it somewhat easier to operate. Typically, the new Labor Contract Law does not bother to define terms like "technical", "senior technical"; and "personal interest" However, foreign investors have long been used to waiting months and even years for ambiguous terms in Chinese law to be defined through the further issuance of "implementing regulations" to supplement the main law; meanwhile the government's actual implementation of the law in particular cases will be closely watched.
About the Author
David A. Carnes is a California attorney currently working as a legal advisor for California Industrial City (Zhengzhou) Development Co., Ltd. in Zhengzhou, China. His website is Start a Company in China.
Gordon Jackson: Best Selling Author, Attorney and Speaker
Our Supreme Court and 1st Amendment - What's wrong with this picture?
In Florida, for example, animal sacrifice is legal to the extent that it applies as a religious observance for practitioners of Santeria (Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah 508 U.S. 520 (1993)) but the possession of the medicinal cactus Peyote by a Native American person (as well as everyone else) is illegal and punishable by up to 15 years in prison according to state law and supported by the Supreme Court Decision Employment Division v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872 (1990)
So punish the peaceful natives and promote animal sacrifice instead, eh?
Flash - You may want to take a 2nd look at the 1st Amendment...
It doesn't just cover "free speech" you know...
THAT is why the handful of tribes that use peyote only do so ON the rez. In their 'special' places. Not all Tribes use peyote.
and they absolutely will NOT share this with a non tribal member.
The problem with that 'native american church" is
1. It's "Pan Indian"
2. Pseudo Religion "sage AND jesus"
3. lets NON indians into ceremony
4. Conducted OFF the rez.
5. Not Sponsored by ANY federally recognized tribe.
[mage lang="" source="flickr"]employment law flexible hours[/mage] Community Calendar
The deadline for calendar items is two weeks prior to the desired publication date. Send information on clubs, lectures, community events, religious events, reunions, support groups and singles to: Community Calendar, Evanston Review, 3701 W. Lake Ave., Glenview IL 60026; fax to (847) 486-7451 or e-mail to evanston@pioneerlocal.com. Flexible Work Arrangements and Low-Wage Work
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Small business employees FAQ
Could i start a business and put a taxx on my workforce to futher my goal ? i will give the gov. their share, but i looked-for to taxx my employees for my personal gain to form a consortium or to incorporate what steps do i take??
Have you ever have to close your business or lay sour personnel? If yes, later what is a suitable path of doing it? If my small business was going out of business, how could I consent to my six employees know that I might hold to shut down the business. If...
In the state of MN can an emplyer work a member of staff for eight hours lacking a break? Federal law does not require lunch or coffee breaks. Minnesota tenet requires "sufficient" unpaid time for employees who work 8 consecutive hours or more.
Is at hand profoundly of opportunity to do medical billing from home? I am taking an online class to get my Associates Degree. I am hoping to do medical billing and coding from home. Are in that many companies that propose their employees the fate to work from home, or are...
Is it possible to run your own business if you travel seriously? Depends on the type of business. I have a home base office, and do business consulting and get rid of promotional products. Have no employees. We budge on vacation every two months for a week or ten...
Sample termination memo during probationary time? Does anyone have an example or two of a termination communiqu? to use during an employees probationary time of year (or the politically correct term is introductory period)? I've never have to write one, never even received one myself but I need to write...
Service department instability! small company? our small comany (10 employees, of that 2 service techs) is have issues with our service dept. we've tried so masses things to try and get the guys to save up on inventory, be on time to call, manage their time, check contained by and...
Should I be exempt or non exempt? I am a Report and Data Analysis Specialist in a CRM department. My opportunity is the only one contained by the entire affiliate of 500 employees. I work contained by a seperate office from my boss - for this reason I work...
Slow payer sound out? My husband has a construction business that he runs. Two months ago he finished an emergency opening that he had to work dark shift for. It was tricky enough to work hours of darkness shift on a weekend and even harder to find employees that...
Tax Identification Number instead of a SSN? is it possible for a person to work by entering a TIN number instead of an SSN for an employer i.e. going to be paying their employees contained by cash?
Training interrogate surrounded by South Carolina.? Can I have my supervisor train our force in how to operate machinery? Or does he hold to be certified? I was thinking I could enjoy him train the employees and next after the training , give respectively employee a card maxim that they have...
What business should I start? I enjoy sale, customer service, social work, clerical, excellent computer skills I'm not able to urgently quit my day chore and prefer something that can be done from home, or where I can hold employees work from home while I verbs my current job.
What percentage of companies provide condition insurance to personnel at no charge? What percentage provide employees family with condition insurance at no charge?
What should my living title be? I work for a small business (currently 5 employees, 5 more will be added within the next month) and obligation to come up with a mission title for myself. I've been next to the company since it started and my responsibilities have not long...
What to do just about employee/boss problem? I manage a video store and I can't find employees! My boss doesn't repay well and will not lift up the wages, he refuses to put an incorporate in the thesis or online, you have to be 18 to work nearby, and I...
What's a sensible amount to reimburse human resources for occassional vehicle use on business? Occassionally my employees use their personal vehicle for business and claim a per mile allowance. We currently reimburse at 35p per mile but some employees hold pointed to this site which indicates that tax nouns...
Where can I find free emloyee evaluations? I'm doing evaluations at work for my employees and we don't enjoy anything to go stale of. Does anyone know where I can find some? Its for a portrait studio, so nought really businessy and formal.
Why bestow Thanks? 1. If praising employees for doing a accurate job seem to be a fairly trouble-free and obvious motivational tool, why do you deduce companies and managers don't normally do it? 2. As a manger, what steps would you take to motivate your...
Why Marketing Research involve contained by any Small Business and Nonprofit Organizations? Marketing Research in Small Business and Nonprofit Organizations Marketing research does not lone occur within huge corporations with copious employees and a generous budget. Marketing information can be derived by observing the environment of their location and the...
Your business plan is a tool that can? A. clarify your business strategy for investors B. double as an organization booklet for foreign employees C. be used to bring back your business license D. be adjectives merely surrounded by the star-up stage
4 kids, house, fulltime brief and incredibly little time...What do you assume we did to solve our financial problems? My wife and I have a home base business where we provide those who dont have insurance resembling contractors, service industry employees, small business body, college students, and sales citizens a card...
Am I responsible for abiding by a contract signed by one of my human resources? One of my employees signed a rubbish hauling contract on behalf of my company. The contract be for 3 years and stipulated that if I didn't cancel via registered e-mail no more than 180 days and...
any print shop owners out here? are there any print shop owners out here? if so how long within business? employees? what type of printing? any tips on starting a shop for myself?
Are owner/operators exempt from OSHA? We are down to no employees and be wondering if Cal OSHA can enforce regs on owners. If you are a corporation, then the bodies that type this message are personnel of the corporation. If you are NOT a corporation, than you...
Blockbuster address? I am trying to get the address for blockbusters fundamental office. they are trying to charge me almost 50 dollars for movies that i returned within the drop box and their employees lost. I be called once by the company to read out that I owed them the movies...
Business Contract Law? Please help!! I enjoy a fashion company which is California C Corporation beside 2 DBAs with smaller amount than10 employees. One of the craze brand (DBA) is closed permanently as of this month. However, the closed brand(DBA) have ongoing magazine advertisement contract. 1.7 issue / year...
Business owner have problems beside human resources.? As a business owner, how do you maintain a positive relationship and work environment next to your employees all the same ensure that they do what they are told? People hired to do management work here do not behave approaching management. They...
Business sound out...? What is impact on the existing employees if one would stop the construction of the units, and instead introduction them from the overseas supplier.. apart from people losing their job thanks What impact it would hold to be let run, would vary from creature to...
Can a Minor be vanished surrounded by a store alone? If I were to promote one of my 16 year antediluvian employees surrounded by my fast food restaurant to allow them to become a closing superintendent, can Ilegally allow that minor to run the store from 6- 9:30? The Florida state...
Can someone helpme write a dispatch of promotion/? I need to write post to several employees who received promotions and want to create a generic templet for adjectives use. I'm stuck can some one help?
Is it legal if the employer fails to give employees 2 week notice for the closing of the place of employment?
I could not really find much information on the rules regarding the closing of an establishment and the rules regarding employer and employee notices of the closing. I was just wondering if an employee can tell its employees the day before legally. or if there are laws protecting against that, maybe for example a two week notice or 10 days or something along those lines. Thanks a lot for the help.
It would be extremely unwise to notify your employees of this closure because you would be inviting theft of what you might have left to re-start it later on down the road. It's an unfortunate circumstance of being a business owner & of being an employee. As long as you have their paychecks ready on the day of closing, you should have no problems. No money means you might go to jail for fraud, so you might want to think about your future before anything else (if you are the owner or in management). Your state should have labor laws that explain the correct procedure for this type of thing.
It is ideal for every employer to issue employee handbooks to each of his employees especially if the company is relatively large. The purpose of providing employees of such handbooks is to inform them of their rights and duties as well as the standards of the company. Handbooks are useful especially if you are a contractor because it gives employees a convenient access to these rules in the duration of the term or until fulfillment of the project. Here are some ideas which a good handbook should contain:
1. Employee handbooks are books of instructions and information about the company and the respective tasks of each department and position of employees. By specifying each department tasks and position, confusion when it comes to the performance of a specific task will be avoided. It will also bolster accountability in the success or failure of a specific task.
2. It embodies the rules of conduct and regulation which every employee should follow so that order and efficiency in the workplace is maintained. Proper decorum, dress code, behavior inside the workplace should be observed in order that internal conflicts, miscommunication, or altercation among employees will be avoided.
3. The handbook should also provide the sanctions or penalties involve for the violation of the rules and regulation contained therein in the employee’s handbook and lawful orders of the superiors of the company.
4. It is also a reference of the employees of the needed qualifications like years of training, sales quota, among others, in order to entitle them to a promotion. Not only the old employees but also those individuals will have an idea what are the needed skills, experience, or educational attainment is needed by the company for a specific position. This will also provide the other companies who wish to employ the services of the company an idea of the competency of the people who work in the company they wish to hire.
5. The handbook is a written evidence of the employer exercising control of his company. Hence, it should contain the standard concerning each and every employee’s output or contribution as well as guidelines on how their specific task should be accomplished. It should contain as much as possible, a detailed instruction on how a task is properly done according to the company’s standard.
6. For the protection of its employees, the handbook must also contain the proper safety measures in the performance of their task. It should inform the employees of the risks involve and the proper way to protect themselves from such danger.
7. The handbook should also contain as to how and where an employee can air his grievances, suggestions, claims, or comments concerning his work. It should be able to specify the proper procedures that each employee should follow.
8. The handbook should also contain the minimum benefits the employees are entitled to under the law. If the company is giving out additional incentives for good performance or quality or years of service, then, it is advisable that it be included therein so that employees will have something to aspire and look forward to.
Are you and your Notary staff in compliance with the new Illinois Notary law effective June 1, 2009?
The recent Vancura v Katris ruling of the Illinois Appellate Court finds that deficient or non-existent training and supervision in notarial procedures provided by an employer will not excuse either the employer nor the Notary who commits errors or fraud. Employers who hire notaries will be required to re-train their notaries on staff by June 1, 2009 and this will remain in effect until 2013 (http://www.state.il.us/court/Opinions/AppellateCourt/2008/1stDistrict/December/1062750.pdf).
In the ruling, the employer of the Notary was held directly liable for damages resulting from its Notary employee's notarization of a document. Significantly, the Court determined that an inadequately trained or unsupervised Notary employee posed danger or risk of harm from which employers have the responsibility to protect third parties.
Key Rulings Include:
Illinois Notaries may not use the inadequacy of local statutes as an excuse to ignore widely-recognized common law best-practice standards, such as guarding one's seal
Recognizes the duty of employers to adequately train and supervise Notary employees in the full scope of their duties
In the absence of statutory rules, directs Notaries to look for guidance to such widely-recognized standards as the Model Notary Act and the Notary Public Code of Professional Responsibility
As the owner of a mobile notary and loan signing agent training business in Illinois, we have offered notary refresher courses and related trainings since 2004. On-site training is available to employers who require several of their staff notaries to be trained. Make sure you and you're company are in compliance by June 1, 2009. More information on notary training services can be found at http://www.notarychicago.com.
Right now, key employers who have notaries on staff include banks, title companies, currency exchanges, law offices, and medical facilities - these locations have a little over a month to comply with the new law.
About the Author
Desireé is the President of Roman Endeavors, Inc. Operations include: Mobile Notary and Loan Signing Training and Services, Administrative Experts, and Special Events, featuring the Web sites, http://www.notarychicago.com, http://www.helpforthebride.com and http://www.yourpromcorsage.com.
With over 20 years of previous administrative experience and a strong background in finance and accounting, Desireé embarked on her entrepreneurial path after completing a training program and passing the required certification exam given through the National Notary Association. Desireé received her Bachelor's of Philosophy in Communication Studies from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, and has been a professional Illinois Notary Public since 2001.
HRtrack - the new Employee Records Management Software
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[mage lang="" source="flickr"]federal employment law maternity leave[/mage] Fired for being pregnant/having a baby?
I was working at an auto dealership *COUGHREYNOLDSFORDCOUGH* a while ago, and was pregnant while I was there. My brother-in-law said they could fire me for being pregnant because it is an at-will employment. I thought pregnancy was protected by the federal law that also protects you due to race, religion, gender, and so on. Then, when it got close to time to have my baby, I told my boss I wanted the Friday before my baby was due to be my last day before maternity leave. He said that he thought it was best that I just not go back due to the fact that it was a 50+ hours a week job thus being too much time away from the baby, and that he thought I should go back to school. Despite the fact these are pretty good points, I can't help but feel I've been fired for having a baby. I was only there for about six months. Is there anything about this that is illegal, or was my boss within his rights to let me go?
firing you for being pregnant is illegal your brother-in-law was wrong about that however........
" I was only there for about six months"
so most likely you do not qualify for FMLA so when you left due to the pregnancy your job was not protected.
leaves of absence that are not covered by FMLA are a matter of employer policy.
you technically quit to have the baby if the employer did not have a policy that allowed you to take leave.
this was very likely legal but for assistance and clarification contact the EEOC at:
http://www.eeoc.gov
[mage lang="" source="flickr"]employment law california breaks[/mage] If Kennedy is a swing vote then why did Justice Kennedy side with the conservatives in 11 of 16 cases?
That sure is one broken lopsided swing 0-o-0
Perhaps the most revealing statistic is that in 16 of the 5-4 cases, the Court split along ideological lines, with Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito on one side, and Justices John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer on the other. Justice Kennedy sided with the conservatives in 11 of 16 cases. Indeed, in the most important cases concerning civil litigation, criminal procedure, employment discrimination and civil rights, Justice Kennedy voted with the conservatives, often to change the law.
http://www.calbar.ca.gov/state/calbar/calbar_cbj.jsp?sCategoryPath=/Home/Attorney%20Resources/California%20Bar%20Journal/July2009&sCatHtmlPath=cbj/2009-08_TH_01_supremecourt.html&sCatHtmlTitle=Top%20Headlines
Obama will start to soon realize that Justice Kennedy is more powerful than Obama is.
Responding to the Economic Crisis, Breaking it Down, Steve Williams
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[mage lang="" source="flickr"]hr employment law certificate[/mage] Seeking advise.. I got a 1 year ban after finishing my 2 years unlimited contract?
I worked at a 4 star hotel and I finished my 2 years of service last Jul 2007, When I came back last Oct 2007 from my vacation, I was given a new position and was transferred to another department in the hotel. After a month, I received a call from one of the distinguished banks here in Dubai and they offered me a nice position in their Company. They presented me with their offer letter and asked me if I could start as soon as possible. So I resigned last Dec 2007 and had my exit interview with our personnel who informed me that he cannot obtain a "No Objection Certificate" for me. On top of that, the hotel gave me a ban. I just wanted to make sure that the hotel has the right to impose a ban and deny me a No Objection Certificate? Is this under the UAE labor law? Are all of these things presented to me by my HR Manager true and correct? Can I come back to Dubai with a new employment visa(under immigration) sponsored by the bank?
[mage lang="" source="flickr"]employment law and redundancy pay[/mage] Am i entitled to any Redundancy Pay? (under UK law)?
I joined a major national travel agents company as a full-time member of staff).
I joined them on 30th Aug 2006.
Then went on Maternity Leave on 25th May 2007 (as a full-time member of staff).
Then went back to work on 11th March 2008 and they took me back on 'zero contract' so i basically went into work whenever they needed me.
I went on Maternity Leave again & my last day at work was 17th October 2008. They then terminated my employment.
Redundancy pay would be due if you were made redundant. It sounds more like you were unfairly dismissed (they can't dismiss you while on maternity leave), so you do have a case to make a complaint to an employment tribunal, but the dates look very late - you should have lodged an appeal within 3 months of the dismissal.
Ignore the comments about zero hours: you still had a contract, and they can't dismiss you.
Do we have to give redundancy pay to employees who've turned down alternative work 2 miles away?
[mage lang="" source="flickr"]employment law in ohio[/mage] State law requires contract talks to be private
The city of Upper Arlington has been in contract negotiations with its police division since last fall, and police have been working without a contract since Jan. 1. Law You Can Use: Employment protections for those in the military
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Are Dysfunctional Managers a Necessary Part of the Business Cycle? Suggested Approaches to Address Dysfunctional Management
Introduction
They cannot manage their own lives, yet they may bully to manage yours. These are the dysfunctional managers. They are focused on managing, even micro-managing, the details, getting things done, accomplishing the strategic business plan and meeting the financial goals of the businesses that pay them, but not relating to the people they supervise. While the success of the business is an admirable goal, during that process dysfunctional managers tend to alienate employees and business partners and may lose their connection with their families.
Traits of the Dysfunctional Manager
Their personal backgrounds and experiences may have included separation or divorce, strained family relationships or alienation from children, smoking and or battling obesity or anorexia; yet, they have been successful in business. It is an interesting paradox that demands exploration. How can individuals who are not focused on the people they manage, the opposite of the servant leaders who preceded them, succeed in the 21st Century? The answer appears to lie in their business successes, the short-term financial and strategic results they can engender, often at the cost of employee or associate engagement, the watchword of the later 20th Century.
A 2007 study released by the San Francisco-based Employment Law Alliance, as reported by the Society for Human Resource Management in an HRMagazine May 1, 2007 article, “Study: Bully Bosses Prevalent in U.S.,” “found that bullying in U.S. workplaces is alive and well. And, in many cases, managers and supervisors are the bullies: Nearly 45 percent of the respondents reported that they have worked for an abusive boss.”
In a September 25, 2000 article by Sarah A. Klein in Crain’s Chicago Business, “Take that you big, bad corporate bully! More firms seek ways to tame uncivil bosses, workers,” reported that “in one national survey, 53% of workers who reported themselves the target of incivility said they lost time worrying about incidents at work, from receiving a nasty or demeaning note to enduring a supervisor’s temper tantrum. Almost half of the group in the University of North Carolina’s ‘Workplace Incivility Study’ said they contemplated changing jobs to avoid the offender, and 12% actually followed through.”
An earlier recognition of problems associated with dysfunctional managers was addressed in a November 1, 1991 American Management Association article “Coping with Dysfunctional Managers,” in “Supervisory Management.” That article early in the last decade began to recognize the dysfunctional managers as “adults who grew up in dysfunctional families” and learned special coping skills, not as those adults who became dysfunctional based upon their later life experiences. Yet that summary, citing an article by Francine S. Hall in the Summer 1991 issue of “Organizational Dynamics,” has some applicability today in its observation that, “frequently, says Hall, the organizational culture unwillingly contributes to a dysfunctional manager’s destructive behavior. If control, for instance, is valued within the company, the dysfunctional manger might fit all too well into the framework.”
In a June 10, 2008 op-ed piece for “Business Wire” by Stephen Xavier, CEO of Cornerstone Executive Development Group, “Micro-Managing CEOs Are a Danger Sign in This Economy,” Xavier observed “there are also micro-managers who will jump from one large company to another. Given his record at Home Depot, one would have thought that Bob Nardelli would have had trouble getting hired as CEO of any major corporation. Yet, this old-school authoritarian CEO has found a home as CEO at Chrysler which unsurprisingly has the same history of poor labor relations, shoddy products and eroding market share.”
In The Dumbest Moments in Business History: Useless Products, Ruinous Deals, Clueless Bosses and other Signs of Unintelligent Life in the Workplace, Adam Horowitz, editor, Portfolio, the Penguin Group, New York, 2004, relates the January 2003, statement of Goldman Sachs Group CEO Henry Paulson concerning the investment banking firm’s employee layoffs for which he apologized to employees by voicemail a week later. “I don’t want to sound heartless, but in almost every one of our businesses, there are 15 to 20 percent of the people that really add 80 percent of the value. Although we have a lot of good people, you can cut a fair amount and still be well positioned for the upturn.” (p.21)
Richard Farson in Management of the Absurd: Paradoxes in Leadership, Simon & Shuster, Inc., New York, 1996, wrote “many of us have the idea that as managers we can use our skills to shape our employees as if we were shaping clay, molding them into what we want them to become. But that isn’t the way it really works. It’s more as if our employees are piles of clay into which we fall—leaving an impression, all right, and that impression is distinctly us, but it may not be the impression we intended to leave.” (p. 41)
Although there has been a wealth of academic research on dysfunctional workplaces and the people who manage them, there has been a noticeable absence of material in the popular literature on the subject of dysfunctional managers. Some popular management books have addressed the “boss from hell,” such as Managing Your Boss, by Sandi Mann, Barron’s, 2001. In the section on “dealing with the boss from hell,” Sandi Mann characterizes bosses as bullies if they are continually abusive and arrogant, exploding angrily, constantly criticizing, belittling, ridiculing employees. Mann suggests that while such bosses, similar to impatient or stressed bosses, achieve their desired results, there are serious consequences to employees due to chronic workplace bullying including serious health problems for employees and lost time to the business.
A few books, such as When Smart People Work for Dumb Bosses, by William and Kathleen Lundin, McGraw-Hill, 1998, and Crazy Bosses, by Stanley Bing, HarperCollins Publishers, 2007, address the demoralizing short-sighted management decisions, thoughtless actions and rude behaviors of managers and the obnoxious and dangerous insanity of managers, respectively. The Lundins wrote, “Dysfunction can be the outcome of dumb (inept, misguided, insensitive, power-driven, unfeeling) leadership or dumb (tradition-bound, blind-sided, arrogant) organizational thinking.” (p. 117) They further wrote, “we predict more and more of what this paradigm example shows as organizations, out of competitive anxiety, dash toward ‘technological fixes’ without considering how the people who have to adapt to those ‘fixes’ need to be helped to do so.” (p. 117) Stanley Bing writes “bully management is perhaps the most difficult of all tasks for those who wish to survive in a world filled with the impressive variety of sick senior officers.” (Crazy Bosses, p. 75) He noted the inconsistent nature of the bully manager with “vast emotional swings depending on mood, often seemingly unrelated to external circumstances,” (p. 75) further noting that “management by terror has been a time-honored technique because it works.” (p. 76)
The Paradox Businesses Face with the Dysfunctional Manager
Many organizations adopted a family style culture during the latter part of the 20th Century. However, some quickly became dysfunctional family styled organizations, focused on a few functional details that yielded to the short-term success of the organization and its leaders rather than the engagement and empowerment of employees or associates. Communication, sensitivity and caring, which are at the heart of a fully functioning and competitive organization are hazy or lost in dysfunctional management styles. After relating many interviews with a variety of employees the Lundins observed “the most compelling observation is how people in power—from those who manage a small department to leaders of multinational corporations—believe they have the right to manipulate and play with the emotions of their employees.” (p. 173)
An example of the bully as a dysfunctional manager is one who appears in a temper at the employee’s office questioning the status of activity or demanding a status report when it was previously provided, but the manager did not take them time to save it or look for it. Or in the mean spirit of another example, demeaning an employee with years of published and very successful writing experience with the statement “you sometimes write as though English is your second language.”
The Dilbert cartoon strip by Scott Adams has popularly and perhaps now properly characterized the dysfunctional bullying boss. In The Dilbert Principle: A Cubicle’s-Eye View of Bosses, Meetings, Management Fads & Other Workplace Afflictions, HarperBusiness, HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 1996, Adams described the change in the management selection process from the Peter Principle of workers being promoted to bosses beyond their levels of competence to the Dilbert Principle of the most ineffective workers being “systematically moved to the place where they can do the least damage: management.” (p. 14)
In The Dilbert Principle Scott Adams shares an email submission that is similar to the statement of the Goldman Sachs Group CEO previously identified in The Dumbest Moments in Business History.
“A newly appointed VP of my company, in an interview printed in the internal company news rag, made the following comment when asked whether existing employees would be relocated if the company won an upcoming contract, or if the company would instead hire local people:
‘Engineers are basically a commodity. It doesn’t make economic sense for the company to pay for moves when we can buy the same commodity on site.’
Naturally, this disturbed some individuals in the workforce and a number of them showed up at an all-hands meeting held by this VP a few days later and sat in the front row plastered with signs labeling themselves as ‘Bananas,’ ‘Pork Bellies,’ etc.” (pp. 295, 296)
Yet, these dysfunctional managers are frequently successful, in a financial sense both as individuals and for their organizations. In the Human Resource Management article describing the 2007 study by Employment Law Alliance, its CEO Stephen J. Hirschfeld was quoted, that “changing the behavior of workplace bullies could be problematic for employers, Hirschfeld concedes, because workplace bullies can be high performers. Aggressive or ‘type A’ behaviors tend to be rewarded in the workplace, but Hirschfeld contends that employers need to draw the line and make sure aggressive workers don’t become abusive managers.” A Wall Street Journal article viewing the recruitment of chief executive officers observed that the characteristics of recent CEO hires have been focused on specific financial talents, details and successes rather than on the broader team leader or coach models of the past. A September 1, 1996 article on “Making it, CEO style,” in “Executive Female by D. A. Benton stated that among five personality traits of chief executive officers ”“the higher you go, the more exposure to the big picture you have, the more you might think being detail-oriented is unnecessary. Wrong. It’s just the opposite. According to near-perfect chefs, the higher you go, the more critical it is to be aware of details.”
In Management, a Revised Edition by Peter F. Drucker with Joseph A. Maciariello, HarperCollins Publishers, 1973, 1974, in the introduction to management and managers, Drucker observes “there is tremendous stress these days on liking people, helping people, getting along with people, as qualifications for a manager. These alone are never enough. In every successful organization there are bosses who do not like people, who do not help them, and who do not get along with them. Cold, unpleasant, demanding, they often teach and develop more people than anyone else. They command more respect that the most likable person ever could. They demand exacting workmanship of themselves and other people. They set high standards and expect that they will be lived up to. They consider only what is right and never who is right. And though often themselves persons of brilliance, they never rate intellectual brilliance above integrity in others. The manger who lacks these qualities of character—no matter how likable, helpful, or amiable, no matter, even, how competent or brilliant--is a menace who is unfit to be a manager.” (p. 10) Drucker concludes, “Organizations are far from perfect. As every manger knows, they are very difficult; full of frustration, tension, and friction; clumsy and unwieldy. But they are the only tools we have to accomplish such social purposes as economic production and distribution, health care, governance, and education. And there is not the slightest reason to expect society to be willing to do without these services that only performing organizations can provide. Indeed, there is every reason to expect society to demand more performance from all its institutions, and to become more dependent upon their performance. And it is the managers who make institutions perform.” (p. 526)
Reforming or Reassigning the Dysfunctional Manager
Returning to the American Management Association’s article, “Coping with Dysfunctional Managers,” cited earlier in this article, efforts a decade and a half ago to solve problems related to the behaviors of dysfunctional managers were in their infancy. That article stated that in solving the problem, “often supervisors of dysfunctional managers mistake behavior problems for management skills problems. But for the true dysfunctional manager, attending seminars on improving management will have only short-term success. Once a manager has accepted the fact that he or she is dysfunctional, Hall advises, a recovery program should be sought. As for organizations, how companies both recognize the problem and effect solutions will be one of the most difficult challenges for managements in the next decade.”
One method to identify the dysfunctional manager to senior management is to allow the manager to demonstrate dysfunctional incompetence in the forum it most frequently appears. For example, if it occurs in meetings find an appropriate opportunity to invite the dysfunctional manager’s supervisor to a meeting or if it occurs in written or verbal communications seek witnesses. This may, however, be a long-term effort that may not have a desirable short-term result. Another approach may be to identify documented problems seeking solutions from appropriate sources. Still another approach may be to a peer or three level review.
Rather than providing seminars and additional training for dysfunctional managers, the solution may include intensive efforts to identify dysfunctional managers and provide coaching or reassignment when those follow-ups are needed. One-on-one coaching, engaging a mentor relationship or even peer networking groups with other managers focused on identifying issues adversely impacting the dysfunctional manager’s style may lead to behavior modification techniques.
If the Problem is Not Addressed: Potential for Legislation
Some articles, such as the 2007 Human Resource Management summary of the Employment Law Alliance study on bullying in the workplace, suggest that a growing awareness of the problem could result in the potential for legislation if employers fail to remedy the situation. That article reported, “There are proposals in about a dozen states for some form of workplace bullying legislation.” It also referenced “a recent anti-bullying law enacted in the Canadian province of Quebec that gives workers the right to file suit against their employers and to recover damages for ‘any vexatious behavior that affects an employee’s dignity or their psychological or physical integrity.”
Conclusion
The inevitable conclusion, however, is that the cycle of the dysfunctional non-abusive manager may be the right type of manager for the current competitive business environment, facing cost-cutting efficiency, financial challenges and economic declines domestically and internationally. Since dysfunctional managers may have difficulty self-identifying their need to transition their management style, organizations must be prepared to assist them in that transition through coaching and mentor or peer networking opportunities. If the dysfunctional manager cannot to adapt hardened characteristics to the amiable and servant leader model of management, reassignment or termination may be the course an organization should consider.
There is hope, however, that in the foreseeable future effective managers with the hardened characteristics of the qualified manager that Drucker proposed, and who remain for the longer term, can adapt those characteristics to the amiable and servant leader model. That combined model appears to have staying power that will bring longer-term success to the organization and the relationship with its employees or associates.
About the Author
Early retirement following 30.5 years with Nationwide insurance and financial services as AVP Corporate Governance and Secretary/Assistant Secretary in the Office of General Counsel, Officer of Customer Relations, Director of Government Relations, National Staff Claims Counsel and National Commercial Accounts Claims Attorney. Earlier experience with law firm and community access television. Service on many non-profit boards as member and chair. Attorney, SCORE Counselor and managing member of Advocate for the Customer, LLC, a consulting firm.
