Week 7 EOC: Minimum Wage

"38 states introduced minimum wage bills during the 2014 session; 34 states considered increases to the state minimum wage." (NCSL, State Minimum Wages) Minimum wage on the average is $7.25, in the United States. This means that if a person receiving $7.25 an hour "which means that depending on the city you're in, 60 minutes of work will just about buy you a Chipoltle burrito (without guac)." (Th Atlantic, Should We Raise Minimum Wage?), works an 8-hour shift, for 5 days a week, they will only make $15,080 and that is BEFORE taxes. In Nevada, one can find an apartment for as low as $510. The disadvantage to this is the area that person would be living in. The living conditions will probably be a low grade comparing to the nicer areas where average rent for a 1-bedroom apartment is $800. The cost of an apartment for monthly rent doesn't even cover the other bills that come along with it. It also doesn't include car insurance, school loans, gas, groceries, cable, furniture and more. The $7.25 earner would have to live with a roommate or family just to ease up on their expenses. This goes to show that the cost of living is nowhere compared to what minimum wage earners are earning. "Employees that earn the minimum wage tend to be young, and work in businesses that keep a few cents of each sales dollar after expenses." (Minimumwage.com, About the Minimum Wage) Major businesses such as McDonold's, Burger King, Walmart and so on, can definitely afford to accommodate workers with higher compensation. They just don't want to. Profit is everything to these companies and losing money to compensate existing and future employees? It's not realistic to them. Little do these companies realize, such a sacrifice will only improve the brand. When giving employees the right compensation to live on, they will be less stressed and more reliable to do their jobs. They will be better employees, give better customer service and this will have a better effect on the company. Customers will then want to come around more and spend their money, simply because the customer service is excellent. And for many, customer service makes or breaks the experience. Ever heard, "I don't get paid enough for this?" Well it's true for most! And this is the reason why turnovers are so high, why employees don't care about the well-beings of their customers and why a good worker is so hard to come by. Companies then have to rely on the hope that whoever they hire is genuinely just a good person, when in fact all they needed to do was lift the minimum wage and problems would be less frequent. Minimum wage has been statistically proven that it is NOT realistic and needs to be lifted. It is almost as if we are like manufacture workers in sweat shops working for $.50 a day, knowing it won't take us anywhere. The United States is one of the richest countries in the world, but yet our poverty levels are high, our crime-rate is embarrassing and our people are in crisis. It is all a dominio-effect and money is always the root of the issue. The U.S. needs to set an example and value it's citizens.

Week 5 EOC: Marijuana In The Workplace

Brandon Coates was a quadriplegic employed by Dish Network LLC. He used marijuana for pain relief and had a medical marijuana card issued by Colorado. For a drug test, Brandon tested positive which resulted in termination. He was said to be in violation of Dish Network’s anti-drug policy. “Coloradans who use medical marijuana off the clock can be fired from their jobs for doing so even if they aren't impaired on the job, an appeals court ruled.” (Denver Post, Colorado court upholds firing for off-the-job medical marijuana use) In the state of Colorado an employer can terminate an employee tested positive for marijuana even if they have the marijuana card.

Brandon then filed suit claiming his termination violated a Colorado statute called the Lawful Activities Statue. It prohibits an employer from discharging an employee for “engaging in any lawful activity off the premises of the employer during nonworking hours”.  Dish claimed that medical marijuana was not a “lawful activity” because it remains illegal under federal law. 

“The court held that for an activity to be a “lawful activity” under the Lawful Activities Statute, it must be permitted by, and not contrary to, state and federal law.”(Fwlaw, Colorado Court of Appeals Rules Employers May Terminate Employees Who Test Positive for Marijuana)

 The court said because Mr. Coates’ state license for medical marijuana use was at time of termination, considering federal law, his use of marijuana was not a “lawful activity” for the purposes of the Lawful Activity Statute. “A trial court upheld the firing, but, in doing so, cited a previous court ruling that said the state's medical-marijuana law only creates exemptions from prosecution and not rights. (Denver Post, Colorado court upholds firing for off-the-job medical marijuana use)

 So his termination was not in violation of the Lawful Activities Statute and the case was dismissed.

Laws regarding marijuana use may change one day, but that probably won’t happen for awhile. 

Week 4 EOC

The hiring factor of physical attractiveness is inevitable. “Recruiting: The process of identifying candidates for current or future position vacancies.”(Hayes, D. and Ninemeier, J. (2008). Human Resources Management in the Hospitality Industry. Wiley, pg. 102) Recruiters want someone who is presentable and can attract customers whether it’s with a smile, eye contact or their overall appearance. “An employer can no longer seek out preferred individuals based on non-job-related factors such as age, gender, or physical attractiveness. ”(Hayes, D. and Ninemeier, J. (2008). Human Resources Management in the Hospitality Industry. Wiley, pg. 104) “Before employers can effectively choose their employees, they must identify the knowledge, skills, and abilities that those applying for their vacancies should possess.”

(Hayes, D. and Ninemeier, J. (2008). Human Resources Management in the Hospitality Industry. Wiley, pg. 102) But physical attractiveness sometimes has a part in this. It is unfortunate, but most people wouldn’t hire someone with noticeable physical deformities. This also applies to people with tattoos and piercings. These days, it has been more and more acceptable considering the generation and times we live in today. Our youth is seen with multiple tattoos and piercings as self-expression. While this may not seem ideal, it is what it is and eventually these are the ones who will run the world one day. So as the people change, so do the standards. Standards slowly are lowering but still require most employees to wear bandages or sleeves over their body art. Piercings are usually required to be taken out. This is to make sure that regardless of the occasion, the customer can feel comfortable and not distracted when making or thinking about making a purchase. Uncontrollable factors such as facial hair, skin color, hair color, moles, acne, etc. should not be used when in the hiring process, but unfortunately is. This is where discrimination comes in. With that not too far from this topic, it’s a thin line between the two. Job hiring should be strictly on skills and attributions that could be given to the work force but there is no real way to tell if an employer hired a person by their looks or not. It’s impossible.

Week 2: EOC

Do you support Donna?

“If your answer is “no,” how would you respond to Tara if she maintains (accurately) that allowing employees to set their own schedule in her department would lead to severe difficulties that would result in poorly cleaned guest rooms and, ultimately, unhappy guests who were very likely to complain to the general manager or even directly to the hotel’s owners? In addition, Tara is adamant that if you do not support her decision making on this issue, her credibility as a departmental supervisor will be severely diminished.”

I would not support Donna’s behavior. With all of her experience at the job, she should know better than to call in sick, instead of working. That is very lazy and such an unworthy action. I would have to agree with Tara, ultimately. “Today, employment laws are still proposed by various segments of society in an effort to ensure fairness in the workplace.” (Hayes, D. and Ninemeier, J. (2008). Human Resources Management in the Hospitality Industry. Wiley, pg. 28)

  Donna was probably breaking some work laws and she probably didn’t even know it.

It would not be fair for me to support Donna after her actions. I would have to make an example of this situation and advise workers not to follow down this same path. “Today, there are literally hundreds of thousands of laws that affect the operation of a hospitality property, and the number increases annually.” (Hayes, D. and Ninemeier, J. (2008). Human Resources Management in the Hospitality Industry. Wiley, Pg. 33) Donna’s actions could get me fired as a result if I choose to side with her.

“The societal view of what actually constitutes fairness in the workplace, however, is often controversial and always changing.” Hayes, D. and Ninemeier, J. (2008). Human Resources Management in the Hospitality Industry. Wiley, pg. 28) It is important to show coworkers that they are not discriminated against or picked out more than others. Setting examples, like this one, will help employees know their place and will give them the knowledge they need to not repeat this mistake that Donna made. I would probably have to let go Donna, as she should know the consequences of her actions, being that’s she stayed with the company for many years