Steve Sundberg, B2B CFO®
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I have employees who are literally accidents waiting to happen because they never seem to think before they take action. We have way too many Workers’ Comp claims. However, our foremen and supervisors don’t seem to be able to solve this problem. Can we discipline — or even terminate — employees for “no brainer” injuries?

The answer to your question is “Yes” and “No.”

We’ll explain what we mean and elaborate on some points that may be helpful to you.

Disciplinary action should not result from an employee filing a Workers’ Comp claim or reporting a possible safety hazard. But disciplinary action typically may result when an employee knowingly and repeatedly ignores or violates a known company policy. The key word here is “known.”

How can you prove (if necessary) that your employee “knew” the policy, rule or procedure? Put your company policies and procedures in writing and have your employees sign an acknowledgment form that they received and read them.

If you take these steps, your reasons for disciplining will be backed with factual documentation.

May 4 and May 5 was the annual meeting of the partners of B2B CFO® . Part of the meeting was dedicated to recognizing clients who had  reach levels of success beyond their peers. I was fortunate to have one of my clients, Kansas Fencing, Inc. receive a Smart 25 Award.

Congratulations to owners Dirk and Julie Henderson of Kansas Fencing, Inc.

 

 

For those companies that offer health insurance to their employees, you need to be on notice there are new disclosures for your employees. Beginning September 23, 2012 participants in health plans will be entitled to receive new explanations of their insurance coverage.

All employers both large and small need to build in protective processes to ensure they are ready to comply with the new and changing requirements.

The US Department of Transportation Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) recentlyannounced the revision of hours-of-service safety requirements for commercial truck drivers.

FMCSA’s new rule reduces the hours-of-service in a seven-day work period from 82 hours to 70 hours. In addition, truck drivers may not drive after working eight hours without taking a break of at least 30 min.Drivers may take the 30 min. break any time during the eight hour window.

This rule keeps the 11-hour daily limit for driving. FMCSA says it will continue to research risks associated with 11 hours of driving time.

Truck drivers who maximize weekly work hours must take at least two nights rest from 1 AM to 5 AM, when their 24 hour body clock requires it most.

There is a “34-hour restart” provision that allows drivers to restart the clock on their work week by taking 34 consecutive hours off duty, but may only be used once in a seven-date period.

Companies who allow their drivers to exceed the 11 hour driving rule by three or more hours could face fines of up to $11,000 per offense and the drivers could face fines of up to $2,750 for each offense

The effective date for the rule changes February 27, 2012.

Today I received a newsletter, Report From Council from a lawyer friend, Dan Crow. One of the articles was entitled, Organize Your Estate Planning Documents. This was a good article and I want to share with you the section on the essential documents each of us should organize and have available to our heirs.

• Marriage license-a surviving spouse is likely to need it to prove that he or she was married to the deceased before being able to claim anything based on the marriage;
• Divorce papers;
• Durable health-care power of attorney (for health-care decisions if you are incapacitated), living will, any do-not-necessitate order, and an authorization to release health-care information;
• Durable financial power of attorney (for financial decisions if you are incapacitated);
• Documentation of ownership of property, including housing, land, cemetery plots, vehicles, stocks, bonds, etc.;
• Proof of loans made and debts owed;
• List of bank and brokerage accounts, account numbers, and any safe-deposit boxes with the location of corresponding keys;
• Tax returns for the most recent three years;
• Life insurance policies and 401(k) pension, annuity, and IRA documents; and
• List of usernames and passwords for Internet accounts.
Of course, this list is only useful if you’re heirs know of its existence. If you do not wish to share this information prior to your death, you may leave it with your attorney, CPA, financial advisor or other trusted person marked, “To be opened upon my death.”

Although this is never a pleasant topic to discuss, a little planning can ensure your wishes are carried out following your passing.

 Have you stopped to consider how your company welcomes new employees? As a part-time CFO, I have observed many different approaches companies used to  deal with new employees. A term commonly used is, “Onboarding.” Most companies overwhelm employees with paperwork, procedures and forms their first day. They then believe by the second day the employee is now comfortable and ready to assume his/her duties. If companies were to monitor their turnover rates, they might find they can reduce turnover by restructuring their onboarding procedures. My good friends at Employer Advantage recently published an article on this subject and I would like to share it with you.

“Onboarding” is a business term that describes a company’s process

of getting a new employee “settled in”. For some companies,

onboarding describes the first day of employment, where an

employee completes a stack of paperwork and either listens to a half

day orientation or immediately goes to work. After the first day, the

employee pretty much is treated like any other employee. These

companies, if they track turnover rates, may wonder why they have

the highest turnover in the first year of employment.

Goals of Onboarding

If you think of onboarding as a process to change an outside person

to a valuable and engaged employee, you may view it as something

totally different. After all, the goals of onboarding a new employee

is:

• Make the new person feel comfortable, and

• Shorten the learning curve to the employee being productive.

By meeting these goals, you will decrease turnover costs and add to

your bottom line.

Basic Elements of Onboarding

There are four basic elements of a good Onboarding process.

• Paperwork – Nobody enjoys paperwork. However, completing

paperwork is essential to getting the employee in the payroll

system and to begin building the employee’s personnel file. Make

sure the paperwork you have for your new employee is important

(such as the I-9, W-4s, payroll information) and meaningful

(handbook receipt, company property receipt).

• Company Overview – Yes, your new employee should know what

your company already does before they applied for work. Now is

the time to tell the employee about your Mission and Vision

Statements and how the employee fits into the “big picture” of the

company. This is also the time to roll out companywide policies

and procedures such as Harassment, FMLA, and Open Door Policy.

• Departmental Expectations – Employees need to know what is

really expected of them and how to succeed at your company. A

clear job description with an explanation of expectations on the

first day may decrease the confusion later in an appraisal meeting.

• Departmental Information – Not all departments work the same.

The manager should get the employee acquainted with policies,

coworkers, and necessary locations (bathroom, copier, mailbox,

break room) so that the employee can start acclimating on the

first day. Also, if the department has casual Friday, a bowling

league, or any other fun thing, let the employee in on it so he can

participate.

I came accross a resource the other day I wanted to share.  For many of you, it may be “old news” , but for me it solved a problem and I hope it will do the same for you.

I was working with a new client as an interim CFO and I needed to copy a large file to take with me. I had forgoten my  portable drive (I usually carry a 12 Gig USB plug-in drive) and told my client to copy the file to a CD and send to me. The client does not have Logmein or PCAnywhere and I though this was the best solution. I was not being creative!

 Later that day when I return to the office, I told myself, “Self, I’ll bet there was a solution on the Internet.” I went to my Explorer and typed in, “Transfer large file.” I found many vendors who will allow you to transfer large files at no charge. I tested one and found the results very satisfactory.

I went to the vendors website , browsed my computer and found the file I wanted to transfer.  I entered the e-mail address of the person who was to receive a copy of the file. The file is then transferred to the vendors computer and will remain there for seven days. An e-mail is sent to the recipient who then clicks on a link which downloads the file to his  desktop.

I should have known to look in the cloud.

On March 7, 2011 the Chamber Of Commerce of the United States recognized our partnership for their efforts in creating new jobs as the partnership  continues to grow offering services as part-time CFOs. The letter of recognition was sent to our founder and chief executive officer, Jerry Mills. Below is an excerpt from that letter:

“Congratulations to B2B CFO® on being recognized as one of this year’s Free Enterprise Honorees, part of the U.S. Chamber’s Dream Big Small Business of the Year Awards program. As a small business owner, your hard work and achievements are creating the jobs our country needs.”

 ”This year’s Free Enterprise Honorees are recommended for their strong business practices and contributions to the economy- B2B CFO® is no exception. The selection committee was impressed with your application and accomplishments, and we are proud to recognize your business’ success story.”