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MOUNTAIN MAGIC NC SHRM STATE CONFERENCE

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PARENT ORGANIZATION:

MINUTES – January 10, 2007

Minutes of this Special Monthly Meeting of the Association held at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville.  Should you have any questions or comments, please contact  Rachel Bemis, PHR, our 2006 Secretary.

Submitted by Rachel Bemis, Secretary

Carol Rovello started the meeting by introducing the 2007 officers.

The Vendor was Comforce Staffing with Frank Pomeroy speaking.  Frank introduced Lou Glass, who is a new employee with Comforce.

The recipients of the WNCHRA scholarships are Zip Lawrence from Mission Hospitals and Evan Wise from Ingles. 

Carol announced that the Executive Committee is meeting on February 7^th from 8 AM – 9:30 AM, meeting place will be posted on the website.  Everyone is welcome to attend.

The dues for 2007 will remain the same, however, the price of the actual lunch may increase.

The bylaws are being updated and will be presented at February’s meeting.  The Committee is reviewing the results of the survey and we will look at providing the meetings in several different forums including breakfast meetings, evening meetings, HR Roundtables, etc.  Members will be surveyed later this month to see what their preferences are.

Ellen Westbrook announced the May is the statewide workforce development month. 

Carol Rovello announced that her new business, Strategic Workplace Solutions, will have a ribbon cutting on January 30^th from 3 – 7 PM. 

Ellen Westbrook introduced Charles Brown, who is an appeals referee with the Employment Security Commission. 

Mr. Brown stated that he has refereed around 25,000 cases of unemployment.

There are several reasons that employers lose hearings;

1)     On the notice of claim and initial separation, employers should include detailed information rather than just a brief statement about why the separation occurred.  For example, if someone is fired for attendance issues, the person filling out the form should include the dates the person has missed work, any disciplinary actions, a copy of the attendance rule, etc.  More is more.  Employers may write on the back of the form and attach any evidence.  The claimant can then appeal any determination that is made.

2)     Employers should always bring in the person who observed the employee’s behavior.  This is the number one reason that employers lose employment hearings.  Employers should ALWAYS bring the witness to the hearing, even if it is someone who does not work for the company. 

There are some hearings that employers will never win and should not even try to appeal.

1)                 Customer complaints – these are difficult because it is difficult to get the complaining customers to come to the hearing.

2)                 When medical leave expires and the employee is not released by their doctor to return to work.  The employee will always win unemployment for this as the reason they cannot return from work is not their fault.

*Please note, if an employee quits for a medical reason, the employee can receive benefits but it is not charged to the employer so there is no need to appeal (See Exhibit #5)

Another difficult area is drug tests.  If an employee tests positive on a drug test, even if you have the results that is not enough.  Each drug lab should produce a “Litigation Package” at the cost of $100-$150.  This package outlines the lab’s credentials, tests the lab ran, etc.  Employers should be armed with this package for the hearing since that is the only chance that an employer will get to make a case.

If an employee is hired through the ESC, they can be let go within 100 days with no hearing required.

In summary, for employers to improve success, they must be more thorough with initial paperwork and must have a witness at each hearing who saw and heard what happened.

If an employee fails to appear for their hearing, usually the case is dismissed.

Meeting was adjourned.

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