ORC Sightlines

May 2004

Workplace Violence Gets Attention of Government Agencies

Violence in the workplace is one of those issues that waxes and wanes in public awareness, depending on how much coverage there has been in the media.  In the past several years, workplace violence has receded from the corporate consciousness, giving way to new crises and priorities.  Nonetheless, it has not gone away.  The latest statistics from the Justice Department report 1.7 million violent incidents took place in our workplaces in 1999; 94% of them were assaults.  The FBI, for one, is taking the issue seriously; the agency has just released a new report entitled Workplace Violence: Issues in Response.  The author of the report spoke to members of ORC’s Occupational Safety & Health (OSH) Group at its quarterly meeting earlier this month.

Violence committed by criminals invading the company’s property or by customers or clients is a fairly straightforward security concern.  But violence perpetrated against employees by other employees, past or present, or by family members of employees presents a much more complex set of issues that companies can and should prepare to deal with.  The FBI’s report outlines the elements of an effective workplace violence prevention and response program, and it makes clear that responsibility for the program must be multifunctional.  A team of representatives from the HR, security, legal, communications, safety and health functions, and perhaps others as well, will be needed in order to pull together the required expertise.  While each program will need to respond to the company’s individual situation and culture, it should include

The FBI report is available at http://www.fbi.gov/publications/violence.pdf. Another federal agency, the National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH), is planning a conference on best practices in workplace violence prevention and response that will take place November 15-17 in Baltimore. Ann Brockhaus represents ORC on the conference planning committee. For more information on workplace violence or on the NIOSH conference, please contact Ann in ORC’s Washington office, ann.brockhaus@orcww.com or 202-293-2980.

Alternative Approaches to Rewards for Technical Employees

As participants in the spring meeting of the Human Resources in R&D Network shared strategies for leadership development, recruiting, diversity, and fostering a commercial mindset among researchers, the subject of rewards and recognition programs came up again and again.

Basic to the programs in most of the companies represented is an understanding that technical contributors tend to be motivated by the intrinsic interest of the work and the respect of their peers. So, while monetary remuneration is important, other kinds of recognition, such as individual and team awards, can become highly prized and can be effective tools for demonstrating respect for individual contributors and building a sense of accomplishment and community within R&D. Practices that companies have found increase the value of awards programs include:

The career path available to scientists and engineers also sends a strong message about how their contributions are valued by the organization. Many companies use a traditional dual career ladder to offer advancement opportunities to individual contributors. Others have moved to a “portfolio” model in which job grade is determined by the profile of capabilities demonstrated by each incumbent, allowing technical employees to develop personalized career paths depending on their individual mix of talents and interests (e.g., customer service, business development, project management, people management, technical expertise) as well as the organization’s needs.

Organizations that are striving to make innovation a priority can use time as a reward—time for researchers to pursue their own ideas, even if these don’t relate directly to assigned projects, or time (and budget) to attend scientific conferences or publish papers in the technical journals. Other companies, for which commercialization is a key success factor, are looking at ways to permit researchers to share in the rewards of commercialization even if the payoff comes several years after the scientists’ main involvement in the project.

ORC’s HRRD Network brings together HR leaders in organizations with a major commitment to directed research, engineering, and/or product development. For more information, contact Michal Fineman, 212-852-0354, michal.fineman@orcww.com.

New Overtime Regs Challenge Experienced Compensation Pro’s

The Department of Labor has finalized new overtime regulations, including the first major change in fifty years to the rules for determining overtime pay exemptions. Not surprisingly, the changes are being challenged, but they are slated to go into effect in just three months, and employers must be prepared. Interpretation and implementation of the new provisions will likely bedevil compensation managers for some time to come.

Currently, white-collar workers are entitled to overtime pay if they earn less than $8,060 a year. When the new regulations become effective on August 23, any salaried workers earning less than $23,660/year ($455/week) will be entitled to overtime pay, regardless of the nature of their work. (This floor does not apply to outside sales employees, teachers, and employees practicing law or medicine, who may be considered exempt even if paid less.)

The “duties test” for determining which administrative, executive, and professional employees can appropriately be exempted from overtime pay also has been modified, but remain open to interpretation. Employers can exempt a highly compensated white collar worker even though he/she does not meet all the requirements in the standard exemption tests, if the employee makes over $100,000 and performs one or more duties of an executive, administrative, or professional employee.

ORC has teamed with Boyd & Greene, LLC, a leading, national employment law firm, to develop an in-depth, advanced training workshop for experienced compensation professionals and employment lawyers who want guidance in the application of these regulations. The one-day program will go beyond the basics to provide one-to-one advice on specific cases and on each company’s needs. Participants will also get:

The workshop will be held at ORC’s New York offices on June 14 [sold out] and July 13. For more information, contact Joan Naudts (joan.naudts@orcww.com) or Sydney Robertson (sydney.robertson@orcww.com) or call 212-719-3400.

ORC Resources: Climate Assessment Article

This month’s issue of Workspan features an article by ORC consultant Michal Fineman on getting the most out of work environment assessments such as surveys and focus groups. This and other articles are posted in ORC's Reading Room.

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