I was reading an article debating the pros and cons of allowing employees to utilize their personal devices such as smart phones at work. This made me think back to when companies had to worry about an employee “walking off” with their rolodex or photocopies of documents when their employment was terminated. Times have changed [...]
For some reason, some managers believe that always telling the craft labor the project is losing money is a good way to increase the productivity but I don’t see the logic behind this strategy. I believe being honest to the workers in the field is the one and only way to go. Lying does nothing [...]
Construction site thefts are always a problem, but I have noticed a significant increase in news media coverage lately. This led me to thinking about how these thefts affect the estimate for the projects. Even if the thefts results in an insurance claim, there is still a deductible for the claim. If your company views [...]
I have heard countless times that you should read a document before you sign it which is actually very wrong. You might as well just sign your name and possibly your livelihood away by this approach because it is no different than not even looking at the words on the paper before signing. The correct [...]
With the economy where it’s at right now, it’s very important to keep your customers satisfied. Customers have the upper hand right now and if they are the least bit dissatisfied, they can easily go to your competition that will be more than happy to take care of their needs. They will only be loyal [...]
The National Labor Relations Board has issued a final rule which requires employers to post a sign notifying their employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act. In order to be in compliance the sign/poster will need to be posted by January 31, 2012. The following link provides more information about the requirements [...]
It’s amazing how a small gesture to an employee can actually increase the productivity. Just recently an employee jokingly made the comment that it would be a good donut day today. Well that turned into the President of Tempest Company stopping at a bakery and picking some up for the office which was a nice [...]
Just a few years ago, I would be willing to bet if an employer offered an employee the deal of a 40 hour paycheck in return for 47 hours of work, the employee would simply laugh and walk away. The situation above is having a much different outcome today. Not only are construction workers accepting [...]
I thought I would pass along this story about a potential contractor with way to many red flags to hire. A little background information first, my folks own an old style mobile home on a lake for a vacation home and a neighbor “tried” to cut down a large tree and did “a bit” of [...]
The IRS is trying to obtain compliance with companies that have employees misclassified as independent contractors. They have a new program called “Voluntary Worker Classification Settlement Program”. The basic idea of this program is to try and convince companies to change the status of the contractor to employee by reducing the tax liability for each [...]
