March 22, 2021
Published by 
Stephanie Ramsey on March 22, 2021
Stephanie Ramsey on March 22, 2021Scenario: Morten Funeral and Cremation Service is a high-volume business on the East Coast. The business is owned by Jim and Jane Morten who took the business over from Jim’s dad, Tom Morten, more than 15 years ago. This multigenerational business has served the heavy-populated area for more than 100 years. Jim and Jane have a great team of employees that support them in providing excellent service to the families in their community. However, there is one area of concern with their employees that continues to be a rising challenge for them. As the population in the area continues to grow, the roadways have become more congested. The number of incidents in which their employees are involved in car accidents are increasing. There appears to be an alarming trend where their employees are the ones at fault for these accidents. […]
December 21, 2020
Published by Stephanie Ramsey on December 21, 2020
Stephanie Ramsey on December 21, 2020Scenario: Meyer-Landis Funeral & Cremation Service has been serving families in the northern United States since the late 1800s. Currently the business is owned by Brian and Jackie Landis. They pride themselves on excellent service to their families and train all their employees to adhere to their credo, “Our community and the families we serve are our first priority and deserve to be treated as we would treat a member of our own family.” As COVID-19 became a reality earlier this year, this motto became a talisman for Brian and Jackie as they have experienced a fair number of COVID cases. At the request of their more vulnerable employees, they have limited those individuals’ exposure by adjusting their schedules or responsibilities. In fact, one of their senior licensed funeral directors elected to retire, and they have not yet been able […]
September 21, 2020
Published by Stephanie Ramsey on September 21, 2020
Stephanie Ramsey on September 21, 2020Scenario: Kirkland Cremation and Funeral Services provides services to approximately 150 families in its community. The business is owned by Clark Kirkland. Clark has one other licensed funeral director besides himself and also relies on multiple part-time funeral assistants. Most of these funeral assistants work regular part-time hours averaging 24 hours per week. In late March, when COVID-19 led to his state mandating “safer-at-home” orders, Clark made the difficult decision to lay off most of his part-time staff to do his part to help contain the virus. His expec-tation was this would be only a short period of time as he was an essential business and he needed his staff. However, the federal government then enacted the stimulus package providing additional benefits to newly laid off employees. For the past several weeks, even though Clark has offered his part-time employees […]
July 17, 2020
Published by Stephanie Ramsey on July 17, 2020
Stephanie Ramsey on July 17, 2020Scenario: James and Martha Smitherton own a funeral and crematory business in the northwestern United States, Smitherton Family Funerals and Cremations. Smitherton’s serve 240 families a year with a staff of three full-time licensed funeral directors/embalmers (James, Todd and Kimberly) and a part-time apprentice. They also employ a full-time office support person to assist Martha in the office. The rest of their staff consists of 18 part-time employees who are scheduled as needed and based on their availability. Both Todd and Kim have worked for the funeral home for several years, and while both have children, they are in high school and college. The recent pandemic has stretched the funeral home staffing resources rather thin as nonessential employees are sheltering at home per their state mandate. As a designated essential business, the funeral home continues to operate and provide services […]
May 8, 2020
Published by Stephanie Ramsey on May 8, 2020
Stephanie Ramsey on May 8, 2020Scenario: Delmond Funeral & Cremation Services is a multi-location business owned by Ken and Stacy Delmond. The business employs more than 20 employees between its various locations. The funeral directors move freely between the various locations as needed, and are licensed to sell preneed on behalf of the business. Recently, while preparing for a family that was coming in to arrange for an imminent death, Stacy pulled the preneed contract that was written a few years ago by one of their funeral directors, Darrin Rodgers. Stacy realized that she did not recognize the insurance company named on the contract as the policy provider. She then began researching their records and discovered that there was no indication that the business had ever had a relationship with the insurance company. Further, the funeral business had never received commissions for selling preneed insurance […]
November 22, 2019
Published by Stephanie Ramsey on November 22, 2019
Stephanie Ramsey on November 22, 2019HR Case Study #16 Scenario: Rossi Funeral Service is a single location business owned by Adrian Rossi serving 250 families a year. The business employs more than twenty-five full-time and part-time employees. Currently, they have several full-time licensed funeral directors who are all male and one female apprentice, Janice. Adrian is very pleased with Janice and sings her praises. Recently a post was made on social media that was ultimately identified as belonging to Janice. Although Janice did not identify who she worked for, she provided many details about her work situation. While she claimed she was working her dream job, she complained that she was paid a low hourly wage. Further, she stated that she was required to work most of the removals both day and night, meet with families, and handle family services more than the licensed funeral […]
July 24, 2019
Published by Stephanie Ramsey on July 24, 2019
Stephanie Ramsey on July 24, 2019By Stephanie Ramsey; The Foresight Companies, LLC Many people believe that the funeral business work environment is something like the classic TV show The Brady Bunch. A mixed family that all got along and worked together in perfect harmony. Instead the reality is much more like the current show Modern Family— lots of sniping, gossiping, and taking sides with one group or another. While the daily work is ultimately accomplished, some employees may not be talking to each other and the atmosphere around the office is often frigid. Does this sound familiar? While the public may see a united team, behind the curtain there may be tension, frustration, and chaos that is on the verge of erupting at any moment. Managing funeral employees can be challenging on many different levels. One of the most difficult issues is addressing employee conflict. […]
April 19, 2019
Published by Stephanie Ramsey on April 19, 2019
Stephanie Ramsey on April 19, 2019There is much talk through all US industries about the difficulties encountered in employing Millennials and Generation Z’s. It is perceived that they have a much different approach to the work environment than Generation X’s and Baby Boomers. Some businesses tend to attract and hire within just a couple generations. For example, Facebook and Google are well known for their trendsetting work environments and are highly attractive to the Millennial crowd. Funeral service is challenged on how to integrate the new generations into a historically based business model. The reality is that funeral businesses always had and likely always will have multiple generations within the business working toward the common goal of serving the families in their communities. For funeral businesses today, the question is how to create an effective work environment that is hospitable to multiple generations so they […]
March 11, 2019
Published by Stephanie Ramsey on March 11, 2019
Stephanie Ramsey on March 11, 2019Scenario: Jackson-Smith Funeral Service, owned by Bill Smith Jr., is a three-location funeral business in the Midwest. Between the three locations, the business serves more than 350 families per year. Currently the business has five licensed funeral directors, three licensed embalmers and several funeral assistants, some of which are part-timers. All full-time employees are paid by salary and part-time employees are paid hourly. Rather than using a third-party service to perform removal services and embalming after normal work hours, JSFS has created a schedule for its own staff to cover this need. A schedule is posted each month for the employees to follow. Employees are paid each time they perform a removal or embalming after hours regardless of their full-time or part-time status. This is $25 per event (it is anticipated that a removal and an embalming take approximately two […]
February 13, 2019
Published by Stephanie Ramsey on February 13, 2019
Stephanie Ramsey on February 13, 2019A Conversation with Stephanie Ramsey By Jennifer Padilla Sexual harassment has been a problem that continues to plague workplaces across industries – and funeral homes are no exception. The #MeToo movement spiraled in late 2017 in an attempt to break the stigma and promote dialogue of unwelcome sexual behavior – with prominent men in entertainment, media and politics bearing the brunt of the scrutiny. A Pew Research Center study conducted in early 2018 found that when it comes to sexual harassment in the workplace, 50 percent of respondents are concerned about men getting away with sexual harassment; 46 percent are concerned with women not being believed; 34 percent are concerned about employers firing accused men before finding out all the facts; and 31 percent are concerned with women making false accusations. The survey also revealed that 51 percent of respondents […]
December 20, 2018
Published by Stephanie Ramsey on December 20, 2018
Stephanie Ramsey on December 20, 2018Scenario: Patterson-Mason Funeral Service is a multi-location business located in the northeastern United States. The business is owned by Frank Patterson and Adam Mason. Between the various locations, the business serves over 700 families annually and employs more than 20 staff members. The business has eight funeral directors, all of whom are identified as nonexempt employees. However, rather than paying overtime, it allows funeral directors to take comp time at a point during the calendar year that is convenient to them. The employees seem quite happy with the arrangement as it allows them to bank additional time for either vacation or personal days. Recently, one of their funeral directors, Pam, asked if she could roll over her unused comp time into the next year as she wasn’t sure she could take the time before the end of the year. Frank […]
November 12, 2018
Published by Stephanie Ramsey on November 12, 2018
Stephanie Ramsey on November 12, 2018There has been much chatter about the recent memorandum issued by Peter Rob, general counsel for the National Labor Relations Board. This memo highlights the NLRB’s decision to roll back previous rulings that had made nine common human resources policies illegal to protect the right of employees to participate in “protected concerted activities.” After reviewing these specific policies, the NLRB determined that unless these policies were being applied in a manner intended to interfere with an employee’s right to engage in protected, concerted activities, then they were legal for employers to apply to their work environment. So, what does this mean for funeral service businesses? Death-care professionals need to look at their existing employee handbooks and/or HR policies to determine if they should be revised to address the change in the NLRB’s position on these policies. Let’s take a look […]