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84. INCIDENT: THE MEDICAL LEAVE PROBLEM (FMLA)
I. OBJECTIVES:
1. To familiarize students with the provisions of the Family and Medical Leave
Act of 1993.
2. To familiarize students with a major dilemma facing managers and
organization - how to satisfy company and employee needs simultaneously.
II. OVERVIEW:
This incident focuses on a typical issue that surfaces with regard to work-family conflict, namely,
how to deal with employees who need 4me o: to resolve family medical problems in light of the Family
and Medical Leave Act of 1993. Should a <rm allow an employee to take 4me o: each week, for an
inde<nite period of 4me, to care for a family member? How does a <rm balance its needs with those of
the employee? To what extent should a <rm accommodate the o:-work needs of employees?
III. ANSWERS TO INCIDENT QUESTIONS:
1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of extending Maura Currier’s
leave?
Maura has already taken 60 Fridays o: to care for her mother, and there appears to be no end in
sight. This makes it diDcult for the <rm to plan ahead in terms of work scheduling and staDng. In
addition, the <rm needs Maura to be at work to supervise employees and carry out her other job duties.
When Maura misses work, she may miss important meeting, both formal and informal, which may lead
to communication breakdowns. Furthermore, when Maura is not at work, other employees need to
On the other hand, Maura has worked for the <rm for four years and is an excellent supervisor.
No <rm wants to lose excellent employees. Hiring a replacement involves the costs associated with both
selection and training of the replacement, and there is no guarantee that the new hire would be as
2. If you were the Human Resources Director, would you grant Maura's
request? Explain your answer.
The answer to this question revolves around the provisions of the Family and Medical Leave Act
of 1993 and it subsequent revisions. At this point in the case discussion, faculty members may want to
Nonetheless, while the provisions of the Family and Medical Leave Act are not totally
clear, it appears that the <rm has no choice but to grant Maura every Friday o: until her mother no
longer has a "serious health condition," de<ned as one requiring inpa4ent, hospital, hospice, or
Thus, if Maura needs to take every Friday o:, from now on, she is en4tled to it. However, the
<rm might be able to deny Maura's request if it could show that Maura is a "key" employee--de<ned as
Students need to be reminded that laws such as FMLA change frequently as do how they are
interpreted. Most <rms have lawyers in house or hire outside lawyers to provide guidance on legal
Safety Issues
85. CASE: DISASTER PREPAREDNESS
I. OVERVIEW
Disaster preparedness is a challenge that impacts all industries in all section of the country. Yet
most organization have not developed and implemented a disaster plan. Consequen4ally, when
disaster strikes (whether in the form of a hurricane, tornado, earthquake, terrorist aKack, etc.), the
policies and procedures are neither non existent or unclear. Managers tend to “play it by ear”.
II. OBJECTIVES
The purpose of this case is to help students think through the management implication of a
disaster and to generate realistic policies and procedures to prepare for, manage, and recover from a
natural or manmade disaster.
III. DISCUSSION
The problem here is a failure of Winston Hotels to develop a disaster plan which resulted in
several law suits as onsite managers made ad hoc decisions in the absence of any policies and
procedures to guide their action and ensure consistency. A solution will require developing and
implementing such policies and procedures.
IV. ANSWERS TO CASE QUESTIONS
1. What policies and procedures do you suggest Mr. Baker propose to address each of
the areas iden4<ed above in the Wall Street Journal ar4cle?
Employee absenteeism
Employee’s will be allowed 4me o: during a predicted disaster event which will either be
charged toward their annual leave or be unpaid 4me o:. AOer the disaster event, they will be required
operating with a reduced work force
A skeleton crew iden4<ed in advance will be scheduled for days when a disaster is predicted.
Other employees will not be required to aKend and customer reserva4ons for the expected disaster
period will be cancelled. If necessary, the skeleton crew will be responsible for informing other
communicating with employees and customers
Approximately 72 hours before an expected disaster event, emergency procedures will be
ac4vated and back up communication services provided. A communication plan to communicate with
employees and customers directly through the hotel website and e-mail as well as indirectly through
Addressing payroll and employee bene<ts policies
When employees are needed to provide services beyond their normal schedule, volunteers will
be solicited before mandatory assignment is used. In all cases, employees will be paid 4me and a half for
Addressing supply shortages
The hotel will keep backup supplies of food, drink, linens for a minimum <ve day period. It will
Providing back up electricity
Maintaining information technology
Maintaining security
One employee who is a member of the skeleton crew will patrol the property before during and
Minimizing li4ga4on
Proper training of all personal to respond to disasters is con4nual and ongoing. Managers are
required to learn the policies and procedures relating to disaster plans and not make promises or
2. Given his Central Florida, what types of disasters are most likely to occur in that
location and why? Which disasters are most likely to occur in your current location?
Hurricanes and 8ooding are most likely to occur in Central Florida. Depending upon the
3. What are the components of employer disaster plan’s today with which you are
familiar? Go on company websites to determine the components of such existing
plans? Are these plans adequate to address the challenges of various kinds of
disasters if not, what additional policies or procedures would you suggest?
The students are likely to discover policies that relate to both human resources and other issues. These
86. EXERCISE: SAFETY AND HEALTH PROGRAMS
I. OBJECTIVES:
1. To familiarize students with contemporary health and safety policies and
procedures.
2. To give students an understanding of the possible gaps that may develop between
health and safety policies and procedures and actual practice on the job.
II. OUT-OF-CLASS PREPARATION TIME: 3 hours
III. IN-CLASS TIME SUGGESTED: 45 minutes
IV. PROCEDURES: See text.
V. POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS/DISCUSSION:
This project requires students as individuals and in groups to examine the safety and health
programs of one organiza4on. This is done in two ways. First, the students examine the wriKen policies
It is important for the instructor to remind the students to probe for details and more
information during their interviews. They may receive a response that there are not any safety and
The student reports should detail the safety and health programs of the company, problems they
were designed to minimize, employee aFtudes and compliance, and enforcement of the policies.
87. INCIDENT: THE SAFETY PROBLEM
I. OVERVIEW:
Most employers are concerned about the safety of their employees for a variety of reasons
including a fear of legal liability. As a result, there is typically some type of training in safety procedures
together with the purchase of safety equipment in most high-risk areas. Oral instruc4on is usually
reinforced by wriKen procedures which detail how to do something safely in a step-by-step manner.
Despite these precau4ons, employees in all organization develop their own ways of doing
things which may or may not be consistent with good safety procedures. They oOen develop those
procedures because they are easier, quicker, or more eDcient.
II. OBJECTIVES:
The <rst objective is to create an awareness that wriKen policies and procedures, training, and
proper equipment may be insuDcient to guarantee safety. The human factor is a crucial variable. Since
most employees have considerable 8exibility concerning the details of how they do their job, all of the
above safety precau4ons could be o:set by human negligence or error. The second objective is to
require students to think through how an employer might increase the probability of employees
following safety procedures.
III. DISCUSSION:
In this particular case, the employee in question ignored safety procedures and developed
several "short-cuts" in tes4ng air conditioner compressors. While many employees in this company used
such "short-cuts," Mr. Carlson was the <rst to suffer the consequences when he lost his life. In addition
to employee negligence, the employer could have been more aggressive in pursuit of employee safety.
IV. ANSWERS TO CASE QUESTIONS:
1. In this particular case, was the company guilty or innocent of safety viola4ons which
resulted in the death of Mr. Carlson?
A jury in federal district court ruled that the company was not guilty in this case. The courts
ruled the company had taken "all reasonable precau4ons" to train the employees in proper procedures
2. Irrespec4ve of the jury's decision in this case, what should the company do now to
avoid a similar incident in the future?
The company has not aggressively pursued safety in the past. For example, they have not
The above processes and procedures need to be put in place now. While the company did not
