Stephanie Ramsey

There 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 […]

Scenario: 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 […]

A 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 […]

Scenario: 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 […]

There 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 […]