Stephanie Ramsey

Last year many funeral business employers were frantically attempting to address the potential change to their payroll based on implementation of the Fair Labor Standards Act Overtime Rule which was anticipated to go into effect on December 1, 2016. The enactment of this rule was stalled by a Texas District Court judge issuing a nationwide injunction in November. Then President Trump paused, via a presidential memorandum, all proposed federal regulations that had not yet taken effect. Does that mean that the FLSA Overtime Rule is dead? What about other new or proposed employment regulations that might impact funeral business owners? For employers, the environment under which they try to operate a business is often caught up in the ever-changing waves of new employment laws or regulations at both the state and federal levels. At mid-way through 2017, let us take […]

As a business owner or manager, there are times when you’re faced with employee performance issues. These employees are usually not your worst employee or brightest star. They did not commit fraud or anything that would lead you to move to immediate termination. They just don’t seem to be the most comfortable fit. Owners and managers eventually reach a point where they feel they must make a difficult decision. Should they let an employee go and find a replacement or should they keep them on and hope to help them improve their less than stellar performance? Well-known quotes and proverbs may start racing through your mind such as “roll the dice and hope for the best” or “the devil you know is better than the one you don’t know” when faced with this type of situation. The bottom line is […]

Bridging the divide   How funeral homes can leverage the diverse experiences of five generations. By Stephanie Ramsey How can the information we know about the various generations help funeral service owners and managers? Let’s consider various scenarios for attracting employees for certain positions in which a specific generation might be a good fit. Baby boomers. Latchkey kids. Millennials. The Silent Generation. These terms referring to the different generations have been bandied about for years. Let’s look at their impact on the funeral service industry. It’s not news that funeral business owners have complained about not being able to find the kind of quality employee they did years ago, which points to the fact that generational issues are indeed impacting the industry. Perhaps gaining insight on these different generations will provide funeral service employers a clearer path to identifying and retaining […]