August 15, 2018
Published by 
Stephanie Ramsey on August 15, 2018
Stephanie Ramsey on August 15, 2018Sexual harassment in the workplace continues to be a trending topic in the United States. While many would like to believe that harassment is not taking place in the funeral industry, in fact, this industry has not escaped these incidents. Various lawsuits have been filed against family-owned and international funeral businesses. Many funeral businesses understand the need to have anti- harassment policies as well as formal procedures in place for employees to report any harassment. Most anticipate they are never likely to receive such a report. However, the reality is that any funeral business may receive a complaint from an employee about experiencing sexual harassment while working. Frequently, such complaints catch owners and managers completely off guard, and they stumble when they attempt to deal with the situation. This may put them at greater risk for a costly lawsuit. So how […]
June 12, 2018
Published by Stephanie Ramsey on June 12, 2018
Stephanie Ramsey on June 12, 2018The newest employee policy being embraced by states, cities and counties is mandatory paid sick leave. In fact, on Friday, February 16th, 2018 Austin became the first city in Texas to require employers pay employees sick leave. The policy goes into effect on October 1, 2018. In less than 8 months, thousands of Austin employers will need to comply with this law. Can this happen in your area? Yes! Employers may want to start considering their current sick leave policies. More importantly, it would be beneficial to get some idea of the impact such a policy can have on your business as well as understanding what a possible mandatory paid sick leave policy enacted at federal, state or local level may require. Currently there are nine states that have mandatory sick leave requirements of employers. These states are Arizona, California, […]
June 1, 2018
Published by Stephanie Ramsey on June 1, 2018
Stephanie Ramsey on June 1, 2018SCENARIO: Jordan Watson, owner of Watson Family Funeral Services, recently found himself dealing with an employee situation he simply didn’t know how to address. His firm had been serving his East Coast community for multiple generations and had a stellar reputation. Indeed, he often thought of his staff as his extended family rather than employees. The business served just under 300 families per year, and the team frequently received accolades from the families it served. About six months ago, the longtime office manager, Shelia, retired. The assistant office manager, Karen, was promoted to her role and a new assistant office manager, Barbara, was hired. Barbara was new to the funeral industry but had a few years of experience working in a busy doctor’s office. All indications were that she would be a good fit for the position. After she […]
April 25, 2018
Published by Stephanie Ramsey on April 25, 2018
Stephanie Ramsey on April 25, 201810 ideas to help you improve your workplace environment and motivate employees to stay long term. TODAY, ONE OF THE BIGGEST challenges the funeral industry faces is finding and retaining qualified staff. Each year, it seems as if fewer students are graduating from accredited mortuary school programs, and most of those who do graduate do not have any practical experience in the industry and find themselves surprised by the reality of the workplace. Quite often, the stress of the work combined with the unusual work hours lead to new hires jumping ship to find another career path. Locating staff appropriate for a funeral service business can be a complicated and expensive process. However, retaining employees is another hurdle as funeral businesses find themselves competing for the same candidates. Rather than focusing solely on how to find new employees, perhaps funeral […]
March 20, 2018
Published by Stephanie Ramsey on March 20, 2018
Stephanie Ramsey on March 20, 2018Scenario: Remember David Jackson from case study #8? Jackson owns a three-location funeral business in the central United States employing more than 20 people. The primary location serves more than 400 families per year, the second location serves about 60 families and the third location, a brand-new business, served 30 families last year. If you recall, this past summer David brought on a part-time employee (Jessica) to assist with administrative tasks. Her main assignment was to file the large amount of backlogged paperwork that existed at his primary location. Unfortunately, Jessica felt free to read everyone’s personnel file as she filed other paperwork. Even worse, she then shared salary information with certain employees about their co-workers in similar positions. Jessica was unaware of confidentiality issues with personnel files, and case study #8 explained how David addressed Jessica’s actions. However, part […]