All Entries in the "Ask the Expert" Category
The Hive RI and Speaking of Success LLC Relaunch Thursday Lunch and Learn Series
The Hive RI and Speaking of Success, LLC are re-launching their Thursday Lunch & Learn series on June 8. Speaking of Success, LLC, has joined with the Hive RI to enroll speakers who are experts in issues that are pertinent to the Rhode Island business community. Our exciting June lineup is as follows:
On June 4, Rich Austin, President of Speaking of Success, LLC will be delivering “Writing for Web”. This will focus on what works (and what doesn’t) for web content. If visitors to your website are bouncing, this is a great opportunity to find our how to get them to stay.
On June 11, Bob Salvas of 4th Monday Networking fame and owner of Bob Salvas Consulting will be presenting “Grow Your Business – 3 Areas You Must Focus On To Get More Business”.
On June 18, Carrie Coren, of Carrie Coren Designs will discuss “The Pros and Cons of Doing Your Own Marketing”. Carrie will examine how businesses can save money by doing their own marketing, and how to determine if this is the best course to take.
On June 25, Mike O’Sullivan of MPOS Associates wraps up the month with “Developing Competitive Pricing and Competitive Intelligence Gathering”. If you want to know how your competitors are making money, and see if you are leaving money on the table or pricing yourself out of the market, this is a great event for you.
For more information, call Rich Austin at 401.413.2565 or contact him info@speakingofsuccess.us
All Lunch & Learn Events will be held at The Hive, 650 Ten Rod Rd, North Kingstown, Ri.
April Showers bring Spring Flowers…and TO DO LISTs!
Finally, NO MORE SNOW! Now it’s time to prepare a calendar for your “To Do List”, those items that you have to keep up with every year and those that you just didn’t tackle last year…here is another chance.
1. First step – Prioritize. I find it simple and most efficient to place the things on
top of the list that don’t need to be done by you and that might need some time to
prepare for – like getting landscape quotes for larger projects, etc…
Reaching out to contractors and requesting quotes in January/February might seem like the best idea but I find it is often more beneficial if you can wait until March/April which then allows the landscape companies to really see what their work load looks like. This is a great way to get the best price – if they’re very busy already, you can sometimes avoid the higher price-tag (quotes) and if they’re too slow – you will see that right in the estimate! Obviously, lawn care companies and landscape contractors are the ones I always try to get referrals for and usually use the ‘ones’ I know or that someone I know knows. But, regardless…always get (3) estimates!
2. Step 2 – How’s the outside of the building looking? Are all those old seams
stuck together or are they separating? Take a really close look at the
exterior/siding, you would be surprised at how often houses may look great from
a distance, but stand 12”-16” away and you begin to see it from a new light.
Good from afar, far from good! All those paint cracks on the trim, which allow
rain and moisture in need to be sealed (caulked). This is the FIRST ENEMY that
attacks the un-protected areas of your home. As that happens, don’t be surprised
as time passes if you see ants living within the moldings and corners…
3. Step 3 — Check the sill of the foundation. Does it look good? Sometimes that
foam you originally used to seal and protect becomes too brittle as it is so close to
the ground/surface, creating an opportunity for moisture to get in.
4. Step 4 — Walk around the foundation and see how the finish grade shifted. You
may need to take a rake (or shovel) to it, and once again slope it away from the
house. Allowing it to puddle against the foundation is only inviting water in.
This is something most people just do not think of checking until their carpet is
soaked in the family room located in the basement.
5. Step 5 – Roofline and chimney. Having a good set of binoculars on hand is
always a good idea to skim the exterior roof line and chimney!
6. Step 6 — How’s the driveway? Sealing and filling those cracks are important to
promote longevity of the asphalt/concrete. If you plan on seal coating the asphalt,
that is great but the rule is to not to over do it, every other year should be
sufficient. Having too much will cause flaking and contribute to cracking.
Craig DiPetrillo – DiPetrillo Properties – Planning, Investments, Construction
Personnel Practices: Preventing and Addressing Workplace Harassment
Although conflict is bound to arise from time to time in every workplace, conduct that rises to the level of unlawful harassment can subject employers, and potentially individual supervisors, to liability. In several recent lawsuits in Rhode Island and neighboring states, employees have been awarded up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in settlements and jury verdicts where employers have failed to appropriately address harassing behavior and/or failed to prevent harassment from occurring in the first place. Although employers should always seek to prevent harassment on any basis, harassment on the basis of the victim’s membership in a protected class is prohibited under federal and state law.
Specifically, federal and state law prohibit workplace harassment on the basis of an employee’s race, color, religion, gender (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability, veteran status, or genetic information. In addition, Rhode Island law prohibits harassment on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. According to the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/harassment.cfm), harassment becomes unlawful where 1) enduring the offensive conduct becomes a condition of continued employment, or 2) the conduct is severe or pervasive enough to create a work environment that a reasonable person would consider intimidating, hostile, or abusive.
Gentle teasing and minor annoyances, particularly in isolated incidents, are not typically considered unlawful. However, conduct that would be intimidating, hostile, or offensive to the average person is not permissible. For example, harassment can be verbal (epithets, derogatory statements, slurs, and unwelcome jokes or teasing), physical (assault or physical interference with normal work), or visual (posters, cartoons, drawings). In addition, unlawful harassment may take many different forms. For example:
- Unlawful harassment can be perpetrated by an employee’s supervisor, a supervisor who does not directly supervise the employee, an agent of the employer, a co-worker, or a non-employee.
- An employee who is not directly subjected to harassing behavior, but who is otherwise affected by offensive conduct, may pursue a harassment claim.
- Unlawful harassment may give rise to a claim even where the employee is not terminated from employment or otherwise economically injured, but where the employee is subject to a hostile work environment.
Although harassment claims are analyzed on a case-by-case basis, typically employers can be held liable for harassment by a supervisor where the harassment results in an adverse employment action, such as suspension, termination, or loss of a promotion. Where a supervisor’s harassment of an employee creates a hostile work environment, an employer will be liable for such harassment unless the employer can prove that it implemented reasonable efforts to prevent harassment from occurring in the first place; that it took prompt action to correct the harassment; and that the employee failed to avail him or herself of corrective opportunities offered by the employer. Where a non-supervisory employee has harassed another employee, an employer may be held liable if it knew (or should have known) that the harassment was occurring and it failed to quickly take appropriate action thereafter.
In order to address, and ideally prevent, unlawful harassment in the workplace, employers should implement and consistently enforce non-harassment policies stating that workplace harassment will not be tolerated and that individuals who engage in harassing behavior may be subject to immediate discipline. In addition, employers should encourage employees to be on the lookout for instances of harassment and to report such issues swiftly. Employers should inform employees that no adverse action will be taken against them as a result of their participation in an investigation of workplace harassment. Employers should also designate several different people to receive complaints of harassment, not just employees’ supervisors, in case an employee’s supervisor is perpetrating the harassment. Such efforts will help create an environment in which employees feel free to voice concerns about workplace harassment without fear of retaliation or other adverse employment action, and will help employers avoid liability if harassment does occur.
