Liability Employees
11 04 09 - 16:48 Category: .
You can manage people or you can lead people. Even worse than managing people however, is considering your employees a liability. A coworker just keyed me into this today in light of recent events.
My company used to have casual days. We still get casual Saturday during tax season, but we also used to get casual Friday before my time. Unfortunately a few people took it too far and wore something too casual and then the company got a blanket "no casual days" policy. I'm battling to get some form of it back, but they don't trust us to even where "appropriate" jeans.
We used to have a policy that if you had to work more than 10 hours in a day, you could get your dinner paid for. The idea being it would be late, you'd had a long day, so pick something up on the company on the way home. Unfortunately a few people took it too far and abused the policy by working 10 hour incriments and then getting their dinner regularly paid for.
Company events used to be open bar. My profession tends to drink a lot, judge that how you will. Unfortunately a few people took it too far and drank too much top shelf and cost the company too much money. As a result, a year ago the company Christmas party was open bar, well drinks only. That's fine.
Just a few months ago we got informed that they were further limiting this Christmas part to two drinks per attendee: "this policy is simply in keeping with our position as a responsible firm in the community. As your safety and the safety of others is our utmost concern." The staff called bullshit, it's about liability and money.
Now, we learned as of yesterday that this two drink policy is not just a limit on the number of drinks the firm is providing but rather a restriction on the number of drinks period. Per someone else's discussion with a partner, it's to protect partner liability should anything bad happen.
Here's how this all comes to a head... As public accountants we are expected to operate in certain ways. We are expected to execute reasonable judgment, we are expected to give everything due diligence, we are expected to be professional, we are expected to use discression. On every single job we work on, particularly audits, the firm is entrusting its staff to act as professionals. They are supposed to trust and rely on our judgment and be confident that we are acting to uphold the standards of ethics and professionalism codified within the public accounting guidelines and regulations.
But then they establish these blanket policies to control things on an office-wide level rather than dealing with people as necessary on the individual bases. If you can't trust one, apparently you can't trust any.
The worst part though is not that they are changing their policies to save themselves money. That stings, but it's pretty much expected. The worst part by far is that they have made it glaringly apparent that in their eyes the staff are liabilities. We're a risk, a potential lawsuit, a perpetual loss of their money. To the partner group we are a necessary liability that the firm has to pay for.
The economy sucks right now but that is no reason what-so-ever to treat your employees as liabilities. Employees are assets with value. They wonder why the firm turnover has been so high in past years and moral is so low. They wonder why the office is so quiet and dead around them. Hell, if you simply tell us the actual reason behind the decisions we'd still accept it a lot better than this lipstick on a pig.
The firm has literally spent thousands of dollars in billing write-offs and CPA exams training me and every-other staffer over the years. And yet, rather than considering their accountants invested assets worth retention they think of us as a risky liability that needs to be regulated, controlled, and can't be trusted. They hire us as professionals in all sense of the word under CPA guidelines, but then they treat us like children. What do we need to do, sign a liability waver?
Do they think any firm event will take more than the hour needed for dinner? I expect a much lower attendance of future company events and probably a higher rate of turnover in the year to come.
I feel your pain.
At the same time, I have a friend that works in HR for a small company. The same drink minimum was instituted last year for their employees as many would drink to excess at a company function. I can see the need for a company to play “CYA” given they could be held accountable if anything were to happen after the event. What happened last year and at this year’s party was the employees attended the company function and left together to celebrate on their own after. It kind of sucks that this is what is has come to these days.
Oh, and you should count yourself lucky. At least you get company parties. :)
Daniel (Email) (URL) - 11-12-’09 11:16
I forgot to mention. At some schools I would be fired if a parent saw me at a bar.
David (URL) - 11-12-’09 16:01
For cookies: Not “where” but “wear” in the 2nd paragraph.
Caro - 11-12-’09 10:37