Category Archives: Betsey Nash

Are You an Employee or a Contractor?

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By Betsey Nash, SPHR, SHRM-SCP

A disgruntled home, health, caregiver under contract to provide services for a small company was let go because the owner of the business learned that she was trying to steal clients.
Seems when she found a patient she liked, the caregiver asked them to fire the company she worked for and hire her independently — they’d save a lot of money, she promised.
Well one client called the owner, who learned he wasn’t the only one she’d asked, so she was let go, released from the contract, since she had clearly violated one of the provisions.
I want to say she was “fired,” because that’s the word we most often use, even if the employee wasn’t a true employee, but a contractor. Sometimes they’re called “1099 employees.” Continue reading Are You an Employee or a Contractor?

No Waffling with Employee Satisfaction

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By Betsey Nash, SPHR, SHRM-SCP

Bobby is angry because he’s hungry — you know, “hangry” — but he doesn’t know it. I want to take a piece of cheese and shove it in his mouth like Julia Robert’s mamma, Sally Field, did in Steel Magnolias.
Julia is having a diabetic reaction that could become a seizure and coma, but I feel just as desperate to turn around Bobby’s mood, as Sally does to help poor Julia. A snippy coworker is hard to take, and a reasoned, calm discussion is useless; nothing works except food!
So we have waffles on Tuesday mornings and hot dogs at lunch Wednesday, and I sometimes bring fruit, just in case our wellness director is in town. And even if the employees are not “hangry,” the food has a wonderful effect on them, increasing camaraderie, lightening the mood, almost team-building. Well, except when it’s time to clean the kitchen. But I digress. Continue reading No Waffling with Employee Satisfaction

Some Things Change; Others Don’t

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By Betsey Nash, SPHR

How cool is this? I just found out that my mom was the February, 1978, Employee of the Month at Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles.
I came across a copy of the hospital newsletter, “Chatter,” when going through some boxes in the garage last week. If I once knew, I forgot, so it was a thrill to read through the list of attributes in the article about her; they are a laundry list of customer service best practices.
As a “referral center specialist,” who helped parents get their sick children to the vast network of services in the hospital, she spent all day on the phone. Continue reading Some Things Change; Others Don’t

There Once Was a Girl in HR…

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By Betsey Nash, SPHR

The phone started ringing off the hook last month with business owners asking me to write their employee handbooks in time for them to include the new paid sick leave policy, going into effect July 1.
I love writing handbooks, so I said, “Yes, gladly. Let me prepare a document that reflects our company’s personality while laying out the legal and cultural guidelines with which you’ll conduct your employee relationships.” (OK, not in those exact words, but that’s what I meant.)
If your company emphasizes taking care of its customers, don’t just have a “customer service policy,” but weave your philosophy into every section of the handbook. The employee will see that it is fundamental to the entire business. Continue reading There Once Was a Girl in HR…

They Dance, I Don’t

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By Betsey Nash, SPHR

It’s hard to be a public figure, even a little one. When I had a radio talk show in the late 1980s I would be recognized by my voice a couple of times a week.
The ego loves it, to a point. Said point was it happened often while I was in line at the market on a weekend, scruffy as heck, no make-up, about as far from the articulate, outgoing radio persona as I could get. I just knew someone wanted to say, after meeting me, “Oh, now I see why you’re in radio.” Continue reading They Dance, I Don’t

Slap Consulting and Injured Workers

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By Betsey Nash, SPHR

No, I’m not kidding — there is a consulting group out there named “Slap.” I thought maybe someone had noticed that the longer I am in this business, the shorter my patience, and sent me a funny email, but no.
At a recent Sexual Harassment and Abuse in the Workplace Prevention training for supervisors, I warned that slapping an employee was not a viable strategy, and then last week I got this email touting a webinar about the importance of developing a strong corporate culture delivered by the Slap Consulting Group. I hope they sell T-shirts.
Please do not slap your employees. (Just getting the record straight in case I run for office someday.) Continue reading Slap Consulting and Injured Workers

Upcoming HR Rules Blipping on the Radar

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By Betsey Nash, SPHR

When hiring or promoting a department head at Home Depot, I was careful to explain that their salary was based on an expectation of their putting in about 55 hours a week.
This wasn’t a 40-hour-a-week job and they were paid accordingly. Not long after I left, the company settled a class action lawsuit brought by assistant managers and department heads who claimed, and from my experience rightly so, that they were spending more of those hours on regular employee tasks than on management duties. Continue reading Upcoming HR Rules Blipping on the Radar

What’s Going On in the Wonderful World of HR?

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By Betsey Nash, SPHR

Five years ago, when the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was implemented, Connie Framberger and I made a detailed, informative and entertaining presentation to the Human Resources Association of the Central Coast (HRCC), and I think we pulled it off gracefully.
I proudly use the term “gracefully,” because my friend of 35 years, a recognized leader in employee insurance benefits coverage and an ACA certified provider, and I do not exactly see eye-to-eye on the subject. Continue reading What’s Going On in the Wonderful World of HR?

Here We Go Again

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By Betsey Nash, SPHR

Here we go again! It is an odd-numbered year, so I am getting my panties all in a knot.
Happens every two years, when I conduct “Sexual Harassment Prevention Training” for supervisors in businesses with more than 50 employees. Part of my preparation is researching the newest, best examples, of harassment that I can find.
Esoteric, theoretical stories are not nearly as effective as the real ones I can find. This year I could have waded through the 89,000 discrimination cases in 2014, and that’s just what was filed at the federal level; the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
I am sure I would have found hours of fun going through the cases filed at the State’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing.
I said “fun,” but I was lying. This time every two years the fly on my office wall puts on his itsy-bitsy Bose headphones, so as to drown out my cries of  “Moron!” and “Are you #^&*! kidding me!?!” And endless verses of “When will we ever learn, when will we ever learn?” Continue reading Here We Go Again

What’s Fair?

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By Betsey Nash, SPHR

Last issue I mentioned how my former Home Depot store manager defined my role: “Keep me out of jail.”
It’s really not a bad job description for a human resources manager, but it only tells part of the story. We keep our employers out of jail by enforcing the employment laws that regulate how employees are treated in the workplace. No mean feat in California, as we all know, but ensuring compliance isn’t all we do by a long shot.
I vaguely addressed the job’s dual foci — compliance and employee relations — when I responded to a letter from a reader asking if HR pros are required by law to look out for the employees? Continue reading What’s Fair?