1. E-Mails, Phone Calls and Wage & Hour Problems
Some experts believe that the business world is about to be hit by a new wave of litigation in which workers will seek overtime compensation for all the hours they've spent clicking away on their devices.
2. Establishing a Culture of Compliance
Rather than relying strictly on the human resources department or online training programs, organizations should consider enlisting trusted leaders throughout the organization both to disseminate technical information about compliance and to sell others on its importance.
Highly publicized allegations of employee mistreatment can tarnish a company’s reputation with consumers, damage its employment brand and diminish the company’s value in the eyes of investors.
By Patrick J. Kiger Comments 0 | Recommend 0
he seven-, eight- and even nine-figure jury awards and settlements paid out
by employers in lunch-break-related wage and hour lawsuits are only one part of
the cost, experts warn.
They say highly publicized allegations of employee mistreatment
can tarnish a company’s reputation with consumers, damage its employment brand and
diminish the company’s value in the eyes of investors.
"The reputational risk is real," says Tim Smith, senior
vice president of Walden Asset Management, a Boston-based firm that specializes
in sustainable, socially responsible investments. "A company that doesn’t deal with
the public directly isn’t as vulnerable, but for a consumer-
oriented outfit like a big retailer, these sorts of charges can be troubling."
Some of the consumer-brand damage may be self-inflicted;
experts say that employees unhappy over what they perceive as unfair treatment are
less likely to provide good customer service. "That ill feeling becomes part of
your image," says labor law attorney Reuben Guttman, who is representing meatpacking
plant workers in a wage and hour suit against Tyson Foods.
"In the old way of thinking, employees were viewed as an expense. ... But today, sustainable investors are seeing that as shortsighted and
problematic." —Tim Smith, senior vice president, Walden Asset Management
Wage and hour lawsuits can cripple talent acquisition
as well, says recruiting and HR consultant Peter Weddle, publisher of the Weddle’s
guides to employment-related Web sites.
"Some think your employment brand is a jingle or a slogan
or a formal branding statement, but what’s equally important is what people say
about an organization and what it’s like to work there," he says. "It’s absolutely
guaranteed that one of these situations will degrade the employment brand, because
it says something negative to potential hires about the leadership values and priorities
of an organization."
Increasingly, investors are tuned in to such disputes
and what they reveal about corporate governance, Smith says.
"More and more, they look at ESG [ethics, sustainability
and governance] issues as part of fiduciary responsibility," he explains. "In the
old way of thinking, employees were viewed as an expense, something you try to get
as much work out of for as little money as possible. Companies might have assumed
that investors wanted them to squeeze workers. But today, sustainable investors
are seeing that as shortsighted and problematic.
"They want companies that see the workforce as a resource,
as an asset on the balance sheet rather than a cost."
Workforce Management, September 8, 2008, p. 46
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Patrick J. Kiger is a freelance writer based in the Washington, D.C., area. E-mail editors@workforce.com to comment.
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he seven-, eight- and even nine-figure jury awards and settlements paid out
by employers in lunch-break-related wage and hour lawsuits are only one part of
the cost, experts warn.
