Ethics and Law in Business, Essay Example

As the newly hired human resources manager for C&M, LLC I will be taking you through a series of changes I have incorporated into the existing Human Resources Policy Manual in order to integrate the Operations and Maintenance Department team and focus on safety and policy issues of the company. “Conversely, you want to have needed policies, so that employees never feel as if they reside in a free-for-all environment of favouritism and unfair treatment.” (“Heathfield, 2009).  My desires is to make the policy manual easy to follow and to ensure that all of your rights are covered under the laws and regulations of our state.

“The first part of the policy lists your pay rate for this year and progressive pay rates for the next four years under the union contract pending you are successful with your personal evaluations.” (Heathfield, 2009).  It can be viewed on page (4) of the new policy manual. Page (5) of the manual has a sample copy of the performance evaluation checklist that each of you will be required to submit to annually on your anniversary hire date. You are welcome to have your union representative present with you during your performance evaluation if you or he has any questions for your supervisor. You have the right to refuse any evaluation comments that may hinder your raise. If you disagree with your evaluation a second party of independent nature will be brought in to evaluate your work record to make a final determination.

Moving on to the second part of the new revisions to the policy manual, I have added new safety policies concerning climbing ladders and building scaffolds. All employees and contractors are mandated to wear safety harnesses when climbing heights of (20) feet or higher, no exceptions. You must be tied off according to OSHA standard 402.68. If you are not familiar with the standard you should contact me or Bob Subinski in the safety department for training free of charge. We have weekly safety meetings on Monday mornings at 8:00 a.m. sharp. You must attend and get certified to climb ladders or to work on scaffolds, no exceptions.

Part four of the handbook and policies procedures makes reference to the new smoking policies and regulations for the plant. We will now allow all operators to smoke outside of the unit as long as they extinguish their cigarette butts in the can marked cigarette butts and stay within the red marked area marked smoking only. No exceptions. If you abuse this privilege we will take it away and make you go to the front gate to smoke. This is a privilege we are allowing for convenience to keep the flow of work going and not to differentiate smokers from non-smokers.

I would like to next address the company dress code. “We are field workers and it is very important we stay dressed in proper uniform at all times for the safety of ourselves and our fellow workers in case of a spill or an explosion.” (“Sample Dress Code Policy”).  There are no exceptions. If we find you are not in uniform we will send you home without pay.

The next issue to be discussed is the new grievance policy. We have had many complaints that it is difficult to gain access to your union representative for significant issues. It is your right to have access to your union representative 24 hours a day/7 days a week. If any member of management tells you that you cannot stop work to file a grievance or to speak to your union representative for an appointment you have the right to file a grievance against management. Management is not part of the union nor are they affiliated with the union in any form or fashion.

The purpose of the meeting is to present you with the new policies that are effective today and for you to provide me with any feedback so that we can discuss the possibilities of changing the policy manuals to better suit your needs. I understand you are the men and women who work in the operations department and can add valuable resources to the manual. My door is open to you!

References

Heathfield, S. (2009) How to Develop a Policy Retrieved December 3, 2009 from, http://humanresources.about.com/od/policiesandsamples1/a/how_to_policy.htm

Heathfield, S. (2009) Sample Human Resources Policies, Checklists, Forms and Procedures Retrieved December 3, 2009 from, http://humanresources.about.com/od/policysamples/a/policy_samples.htm

Sample Dress Code Policy (2009) Retrieved December 3, 2009 from, http://www.elinfonet.com/blog/index/wiki/Sample_Dress_Code_Policy/