Preventative Legal Management

1
Preventative Legal Management

• STEM

The Tide of Litigation
2
What Is STEM?

• A process that can be implemented that will
  reduce employee errors and omissions - and
  litigation.

3
The Components of STEM

• Select
• Train
• Educate
• Manage and Motivate

4
STEM the Tide of Litigation

• Liable To be legally responsible or obligated.

5
Select

• Select the right employee for the specific job.
• Cannot just hire anyone at the last minute.
• Cannot just hire anyone anymore.
• Use specific job qualifications, written job
  specifications, and information derived from a
  thorough investigation for all candidates.

6
Applications

• Ask job-related and legally acceptable questions.
• Review the application form for obvious problems.
• Note any large gaps in employment, or frequent
  job changes.
• Contact the applicant immediately to answer
  questions.
• Ask the applicant to sign an authorization and
  release form for checking references.
• Dont just hire anyone, be selective.
• negligent hiring

7
Checking the Applicants Records

• Interview the applicants former manager by phone
  to
• Check the facts on the application form.
• Probe for information.
• Ask about how the applicant interacted with other
  employees.
• Ask if the employee left on good terms and is
  eligible for rehire at that company.
• Check the applicants educational record, credit
  rating, and criminal convictions.

8
Testing Applicants

• Hiring Tests
• Must be legal and valid.
• Must comply with Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the
  Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
• Must not be biased against anyone because of
  race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin,
  or disabilities.(exception bona-fide occupation
  qualification).

9
Train and Educate

• These two aspects are interrelated.
• Train your employees the right way to perform the
  task(s) the first time. It is easier to train
  than to retrain.
• Ensure that the trainer is properly trained
  himself/herself.
• Remember, it is the evidentiary trail that wins
  lawsuits, not who is right or wrong.

10
Train and Educate

• Educate yourself about new trends, technological
  innovations, laws, and rules and regulations
  which impact your industry.
• Now you are in a better position to train your
  employees about important changes.
• You are in a better situation to compete in the
  industry.

11
The Training Trail

• What was taught?
• Who was taught?
• How was the training conducted?
• When was the training provided?
• How did you determine its effectiveness?
• The evidentiary trail.

12
Some Current Litigation Trends

• Negligent retention
• Negligent supervision
• Failure to properly train

13
Positive Management and Employee Loyalty

• How to become a positive manager and build
  employee loyalty.
• raise employee morale and self-esteem
• reduce turnover
• enhance service
• enhance customer satisfaction
• reduce litigation
• enhance the bottom line

14
Proper Management and Motivation

• As a manager - Lead by example!
• Todays culturally diverse workforce will require
  diverse motivating techniques.
• People are motivated by different things.
• Find out what it is that motivates your
  employees.
• Involve employees in the process.
• Ask your employees how you are doing as a
  manager.

15
Analyze the Situation 1.1

• A fellow supervisor and friend confides in you
  that that he has been arrested a second time in
  two years for driving under the influence of
  alcohol. His current case has not yet gone to
  trial. This supervisor is responsible for the
  late-night closing of the restaurant in which you
  both work. You know bars in your city close at
  200 A.M., the same time the restaurant closes.

16
Analyze the Situation 1.1

• Should you discuss this situation with the
  restaurant's General Manager?
• Which aspect of STEM is relevant here?

17
Ethics and the Law

• Ethics Choices of proper conduct made by an
  individual in his or her relationships with
  others.

18
Ethical Situation

• Assume that you are the Food and Beverage
  Director of a large hotel. You are planning for
  your New Years Eve gala, and require a large
  amount of wine and champagne. You conduct a
  competitive bidding process with the purveyors in
  your area, and, based upon quality and price, you
  place a very large order (in excess of 20,000)
  with a single purveyor.

19
Ethical Situation

• One week later, you receive a case of very
  expensive champagne, delivered to your home with
  a nice note from the purveyors representative
  stating how much they appreciated the order and
  that they are really looking forward to doing
  business with you in the years ahead. What do you
  do with the champagne?

20
Ethical Situation

• Ethical Analysis 
• Your first thought may be the most obvious one
  that is, you drink it. But hopefully, you will
  first ask yourself the seven questions of the
  ethical decision-making process.

21
Ethical Decision-Making Process

• Is it legal?
• Does it hurt anyone?
• Is it fair?
• Am I being honest?
• Would I care if it happened to me?
• Would I publicize my action?
• What if everyone did it?

22
What Would You Do?

• Assume that your local municipality is
  considering the passage of a law that would
  prohibit the sale of all tobacco products from
  the interiors of bars and restaurants, but not
  grocery stores. The restaurant you manage has a
  cocktail lounge, and cigarettes are both consumed
  and sold in that section of your restaurant.

23
What Would You Do?

• There is no current effort to prohibit smoking
  in cocktail lounges, such as the one you operate.
  You are considering whether to address the local
  government body charged with creating such
  legislation

24
What Would You Do?

• What are the major considerations you will think
  about before you decide to support or oppose the
  proposed legislation?
• Will the fact that you do or do not smoke
  influence your position?
• Which ethical issues are in play here?

25
Rapid Review

• Prepare a five-minute training session for your
  staff that emphasizes the importance of
  prevention, rather than reacting to, legal
  liability. Give an example of a situation where
  this might arise.
• Give an example, other than the one mentioned in
  the text, of a recent change in federal, state,
  or local law that has impacted the hospitality
  industry. Explain why you believe the law was
  enacted and whether you believe it was good
  legislation.

26
Rapid Review

• Give a hospitality example of the importance that
  selection makes in the STEM process.
• Give a hospitality example of the importance of
  teaching in the STEM process.
• Give a hospitality example of the importance of
  education in the STEM process.
• Give a hospitality example of the importance that
  managing makes in the STEM process.

27
Rapid Review

• A vendor has agreed to clean your hotel carpets
  at a very competitive price. In a telephone
  conversation with you, the vendor states that if
  it gets the contract, will do your home carpets
  once a year as a thank-you. Apply the seven
  criteria for ethical behavior to this situation.
• Using the World Wide Web, locate a state law of
  any type that relates to business operations.
  Use your search engine to help. Keywords to use
  include state, laws, and business.
  Describe the law in a one-paragraph essay.