New Year's Wishes and Resolutions

MEMO

TO: Everyone in Glassland

From: The Resolution Keeper

Subject: New Year's Wishes and Resolutions--January 09

The High Council has decided on the regulations for resolutions and wishes this year from resolvers involved in the glass industry. Please follow these guidelines:

• Business will not come in the door just because you ask the Council
• The energy surcharge will not, repeat not, disappear, not matter how much you beg
• For every five pounds you resolve to lose, the council will grant a one percent increase in sales
• We will honor all requests to reduce telephone sales calls for office supplies
• Under no circumstances can we sink any ships coming to the US from China
• We will consider your requests, on a case-by-case basis, for improvements in your accounts receivables, provided you get all credits issued on a timely basis
• No, we will not allow the invention of a portable tempering oven to be sold by CRL for under $10,000
• Lyle, stop asking for more publicity for Chicago...you got enough this year already
• We will randomly award ten shops around the country a free parking pass, making all parking tickets disappear without paying...apply now for one of the ten passes
• If you resolve to quit smoking, and do so for three months, you will be given a new source of tempered glass that does know how to affix the proper labels to glass
• Sorry, the Council has no authority to meddle into either the Cubs or the Mets
• We do have the power to intervene in your worker's comp rates, but you really have to offer something great in your resolution
• We cannot move the National Glass Show to a northern city so you don't have to travel...are you crazy?
• Even if you hold your breath until you turn blue, we cannot stop the consolidation in the auto glass industry...we tried already, but we were too late
• If you succeed in your resolution not to swear at work for two months, you will get the Macy's contract at the mall
• If you ask nicely, Bill in the shipping department will retire in June
• If enough of you ask for the same thing, we will do it...after all, look what we did for gas prices in the last couple of months
• For Sam in Springfield, we cannot get you a ticket to the inauguration...you voted for the other guy anyway
• Dear Deb, yes it is worth it

It's All About Power--From Chicago to New Hampshire

Just as the news about Governor Greedy was breaking, I had the privilege of teaching a seminar at the Midwest Glass Show in Chicago. During dinner with some very informed Chicago glaziers, I learned that political power in Chicago is held by a few politicians who dictate who gets elected to what position, on what platform. Governor Greedy, who previously had the support of the power brokers, was going out on his own, trying to gain his own power spot and earn his life's fortune by selling Mr. Obama's Senatorial seat.

Governor Greedy embarrassed every Chicago resident, every Illinois family, all Democrats around the country, and the entire United States political system. All for the sake of getting more power and more money.


There were thousands of hard-working glaziers and owners at the Chicago show-- people who work hard to run their businesses. They earn their power by building a business, serving customers and helping their co-workers. By participating in the trade show and the teaching seminars, they gave credence to the old aphorism: "Knowledge is Power". By learning more about glass, metal and running a business, they will be back at their shops with greater power to earn and skills to share.

So, in Chicago I saw the worst of power grabbing and the best of power sharing.

Now to power in New Hampshire. We have power in selecting the Presidential candidates with our early primary. That's it. I arrived home from Chicago into a freak snow and ice storm that left hundreds of thousands of homes without power (including mine). Since Thursday, my entire town, and many towns around, have no electrical power. No lights, no heat with wood stoves or fireplaces, no water to those with wells.

The real power is to the people who sell generators, which were sold out in the first few minutes of the storm. Our home has a small generator built in, so we have heat about twelve hours a day, limited lighting and water. When we turn off the generator at night, we have candles and flashlights, fireplaces and blankets.

It makes me realize that power is important, I wish I had some, and I would sell Governor Greedy down the river to gain his power at my house.

Hiring a Private Investigator to Work on Workers Comp Fraud

Joe the Glazier filed his workers comp claim four months ago. You are sure he is working somewhere off the books, and your insurance carrier says they cannot do further investigation. You decide to take matters into your own hands and hire the retired cops from Law & Order and CSI. You know for sure that Joe is committing fraud, and you will prove it...maybe.

Workers comp fraud is when a person spends more time on comp than is needed, or incurs more medical costs than needed. The medical costs are by far the more expensive of the two options. It is out of the realm of a basic glass company to prove that a medical provider is acting fraudulently.

You can prove that Joe is stealing time, and that would bring his medical bills under the microscope as well.

You are 99% sure Joe is a fraudster. You call your insurance carrier's fraud unit, and after three days of calling, they finally tell you that they can not take on this case. It costs about $5,000 a week for a covert investigation. If Joe the Glazier is collecting $600 a week in comp, the insurance company just will not commit the resources. On-the-other hand, if Joe is putting in thousands of dollars of medical bills as well as he weekly stipend, then they will go after him. More often then not, unless Joe is part of a huge area-wide fraud, he will be ignored by the carrier.

You want to hire a PI, a private investigator. Your personal attorney is the best resource for a couple of names of investigators. Your attorney will try to talk you out of this...it is usually not a good investment, but you don't care. The principal of the fraud has you angry. You can also check the yellow pages or the Internet. Forget what you see on TV. Most investigators are retired cops and will only act legitimately.

Treat this as if you are shopping for a vendor. Interview one or two people and then make a business decision on which can help your glass company. When you do hire one, expect to pay between $500 and $1000 a day, plus expenses. Don't think you will go for one day's bill and catch someone in fraud. It takes more than one observation to make a judge believe there is fraud. You have to show that Joe is working every day, at the task he did for you, but for someone else. Joe can, and will say, that if you saw him for one day, that he was just helping a friend, and testing how strong he is so he can come back to work for you.

A good investigator will explain this up front, explaining why they need a five-day retainer. Give the investigator as much info as you have, don't tie his/her hands with weak information. If you can't give the investigator a good starting point, your bill will run-up and choke you. A good investigator will try following Joe at different times. Early morning one day; afternoon and evening the next. Joe may be working part-time, two days a week, and you start investigating on his off-days. The investigator should know what type of video and other evidence to get. The PI should give you a daily short report as to his status, and a weekly complete report. It does not make sense to go longer than a week.

80% of investigations bring in no results. This is what I was told when we hired an investigator on one case. And we fell into the 80%, with an expensive thud.

But let's be optimistic...you do get results that show Joe is working. Now, what do you do? You call the insurance company and they yawn. The legal costs to bring this to their attorney to then go to court, are again, thousands more than the $600 a week Joe is getting. They can't be bothered. You now call the local district attorney, saying you have proof of this fraud. If you catch them on a day when white-collar crime is being looked at, you may get a case. It depends on the political climate in your area...are there more violent cases that need to be worked on?

You go through all this, and hit three different brick walls. Is it worth it?

That's up to you and your budget. If you are sure Joe is committing fraud, keep going at it.

You found no evidence of fraud, or you did, and hit the brick wall. It is now that you have the investigator let himself be seen. Throw a little panic into Joe. You are sure Joe is guilty, and that you won't get anywhere with it in the system, so go for it. Scare Joe, and let him know he is being followed. The investigator won't say who hired him, the insurance company or you, so let Joe guess. But he will tell his friends and co-workers, that he was investigated and they couldn't find anything about him because he was just too smart. His bragging will scare the next ten people not to try fraud. Every one on comp will know this real soon, and you will see a reduction in long-term cases.

Keeping Even With The Comp Fraudsters

So, you think Joe the Glazier's workers comp claim in fraudulent. What do you do?

1. Say the heck with it, you can't be bothered, and anyway it is the insurance company that pays
2. You've complained before, and nothing happens, and you say the heck with it
3. You want to fight back, but you don't know what to do
4. You call your favorite consultant, Mr. Jack Daniels, and discuss your options

Let's work on number 3, unless you just want to keep paying and paying.

Joe the Glazier had an accident. Insist that any accident in your company be reported to you immediately, and that a preliminary written report be given within one hour. I know one major national glass company that requires all accidents, from anywhere in the country, be reported to the CEO. Get everyone in your company on the program that all accidents must be reported immediately and paperwork filled out. You can really key in on the accidents where the employee files a late report...usually as some sort of retribution for an actual or perceived slight. You can quiz Joe why he didn't tell his supervisor at the accident time. One company I know fires any employee who doesn't report an accident promptly. They feel that a late claim is fraudulent, and they don't want the employee around. You will get more notices of "I strained my shoulder" and "I twisted my ankle". That's OK. Write down what happened, that there is no need for medical attention, and go on about your day. The moral of this story...have an accident reporting policy in place and strongly enforce it. Also, have a witness program in place, where any one in the vicinity of the accident writes a short report. This will also place a crimp in fraud.

Most fraud begins only after a small, insignificant accident, but then Joe sits home and watches the commercials for 1-800 call a lawyer. Be sure to get Joe back to work, part-time, light duty, or whatever. Let him file papers, and then dump them out, and file them again. Keep Joe working, and you will reduce your follow-up fraud.

If you suspect fraud, call your insurance carrier's fraud department. Private carriers are the most responsive and state funds are the least responsive. Safety groups are in the middle. First step, contact your agent or company representative to see who to talk with in the fraud division. When you get through, you need more than just a hunch to get them mobilized. After all, just about every employer thinks that just about every comp case has some element of malingering about it. The carrier may ask you to fill out a form. Have them fax or e-mail to you, fill out promptly and return promptly. If they see you dragging your feet, so will they. Show them this is important to you. You should have specific information, such as a report that Joe was seen working at another company or that he was doing heavy work around his home. Give them the time and place that Joe was working.

If Joe milks his claim, staying home for a couple of extra weeks, that is fraud. There is no way you are going to prove this. There is no way your carrier will investigate this. If you complain about Joe for this, you are waisting your time and the carrier's time. When you get a real fraud case, they will not be as attentive because of the 'chicken little' (the sky is falling) concept.

Only discuss Joe's case, or your feelings about fraud, with your personnel department, or with senior management. If you are a smaller company, keep this to yourself and the insurance carrier. But, you can listen. In fact, this is the best way to gain information. Listen to your other employees--don't comment and don't ask leading questions. Most fraudsters like to brag about how they are putting one over on the company. You will hear this from your loyal employees.

After you hear a rumor about Joe's fraud, don't have a company meeting and say you've heard there is fraud going on, and that you will prosecute. You are setting yourself up for a libel situation. Twice a year, you should be having a company meeting about many topics. Include safety. Strongly mention here that fraud will not be tolerated, will be investigated, and if found, the results will be given to authorities. You can't threaten your staff with a police investigation, only the police or district attorney can do that, but you can place a serious tone on your feelings relating to workers comp fraud.

If your carrier does agree to further investigate your claim, and in my experience they investigate a very few, don't brag about this yourself. You should tell no one in your company, unless absolutely necessary. If the investigation is successful, talk all you want. If it isn't, and most are not, you don't want your company to know that you thought someone committed fraud and you couldn't do anything about it. Some people think you should tell your company when pursuing an investigation, that it shows everyone you are serious about fraud. I feel that if you are not sure you will succeed, don't broadcast what may not be successful. To me, this only emboldens others to be fraudulent.

Here is how the insurance companies think. A fraud investigation costs about $1,000 per day, and usually takes 3-5 days. They need to be pushed to spend that amount of money to save $400 a week in worker's comp costs. If Joe is putting in for a lot of medical visits, then they will be interested.

Next week we will discuss how to hire and work with your own investigator for workers comp fraud.

The Midwest Glass Show is next week in Chicago. I hope that anyone nearby creates some time to attend. There are great seminars, exhibitors who want to teach you about their products and you will have the chance to meet other glaziers from around the country. I'll see you there and personally autograph copies of my latest blog. (Do you think we will need extra security to keep our loyal readers in line while they wait for the autograph?)

Fraud and Workers Comp Costs

A recent survey found that 35% of workers comp claims have some element of fraud involved...from the simple taking of a few extra weeks, to the extreme of false medical bills running into hundreds of thousands of dollars. When this fraud occurs, you pay. Your employment modification rate is impacted, and you pay more for your insurance. Here are some steps to help you in this problem.

First, as we have said before, prevent the accident. Safety pays in so many ways in your shop, most of which you can not quantify in advance. I promise you, that a safety program is less expensive than a worker's comp program, and returns better dividends to you.

Joe comes to you and says he hurt his back. It is Monday morning around 8:30 am. He was lifting a lite of glass and felt a pop. Sure. Odds are he is redoing his basement or working a weekend job, and that is where the pain occurred. He waited to get to work so he can claim it. How do you prevent?

On Monday morning make a standard practice of being in the shop as the crew comes in. If someone is limping, is walking slowly or looks out of sorts, ask questions. See how they move and before they go to work, make a decision if that worker is fit to work. Not easy, I know, but this is the second leading cause of fraud...the accident that occurred at home...or at the part-time job. How to prevent? This is going to sound corny...but it works...have each foreperson lead five minutes of stretching before each shift. This will not only help people to prevent injuries, but will spot the worker who you should be asking questions of.

Here are some of the many flags to look for to help you think about fraud on Joe the glazier.

• Joe has a history of subjective injuries, like sprains or muscle pulls
• Joe reports the accident on Monday morning, just after arriving
• Joe gives only a vague description of the accident's cause
• Joe was recently passed over for a job promotion
• Joe is up for early or regular retirement, and wants to get started early
• Joe changes his address to a PO Box or sends his mail to a relative's address after the accident
• Joe moves out of state after the accident, so he cannot accept light duty or part-time work
• Joe's accident happens just after he was reprimanded for something at work
• There were no witnesses to the accident
• Joe's injury cannot be seen medically, like a claim for stress or emotional trauma
• Joe's accident is only reported after a run-in with his supervisor
• Your first notice of the accident is from an attorney or medical provider
• Medical providers have two very different opinions of the injury
• Joe is claiming a longer recovery period than is normal to the type of injury reported
• Joe has his accident during the lunch hour
• Joe changes his doctor two or three times to get an opinion that fits his needs, or to extend the case
• Joe skips a couple of his doctor's appointments
• Joe's attorney says he/she is in charge of the case and not to speak to Joe
• You know that this attorney is known for worker's comp fraud cases
• You know that Joe's medical provider is known for milking comp cases
• You receive an attorney's letter within 24 hours of the accident
• You receive a tip from other employees that Joe is working at another job
• Joe's injury comes at a time when he is working on his house, and needs time to finish his at-home projects
• You are about to announce a lay-off, and Joe's claim starts a day before
• Joe is never available for a phone call, especially during work hours
• Joe has a grudge against the company
• Joe comes into your office and has grease under his fingernails, or is wearing work clothes
• The bills for Joe's medical services and prescriptions are huge
• Joe visits his doctor two or three times per week, with your insurance paying the bill
• Joe doesn't get better after a couple of weeks of intense treatments
• Joe travels a long distance to his medical appointments

What is the most reliable flag here? To me, it is the tip from other workers. In most companies, most workers care about their jobs and their company. When they see someone, who may be a friend, attempt to defraud their company, someone will let you know. And you will see that all the Joes trying to collect like to brag and show off a little. They may come by the company on a Friday afternoon, and buy a six pack for their working buddies. One of those buddies, will realize they will be better off if Joe does not drain the company.

Another point, most fraud cases come from employees with under two years of work history with you. Another good reason to retain employees and reduce turnover.

There sure are a lot of flags here...can there be an honest claim? In fact, most claims are honest, and Joe may be out of work for a very short time. The fraud cases, though, are the big bucks. One or two heavy fraud cases in a year will make your workers comp insurance rates go through the sky.

We'll discuss more about these flags and what you can do when you feel there is fraud in next week's blog.

Controlling Worker's Comp Costs

The best way to control worker's comp costs is to prevent accidents. Safety pays dividends in every aspect of a glass business. But, the alleged accident has just occurred, or has just been reported. What can we do from here to control the costs for Joe the Glazier.

Two broad areas need to be addressed:

1. Reducing the costs of a legitimate claim


2. Reducing and eliminating the fake claims

Joe dislocated his shoulder and was cut when a lite broke that he was carrying on his shoulder. Yes, he should have worn arm guards, but that's not for now. How do we control the costs?

Two things will help...reduce his medical bills, and get him back to work ASAP. Ask Joe for permission to review his medical bills relating to the accident. Without his written permission, you won't get anywhere. Assuming Joe gives you the permission, go over the bills with your worker's comp carrier. Have them explain what you do not understand. If there are bills for specialists that you don't understand, ask. Many times a dishonest medical group will send patients for referrals, when they know it is a comp claim. Look for unneeded items, like orthopedic inserts after this shoulder injury. Or maybe a eye exam that was requested. Look to see if Joe is making his appointments. A missed doctor's visit pushes Joe's return to work out another couple of weeks in most cases.

See if Joe is going to physical therapy two-to-three times per week. If he isn't, either he is ready to go to work or the injury wasn't as bad as first perceived. Are all of Joe's appointments in the evening? Is he working somewhere off the books during the day? Is Joe keeping in touch with you or his supervisor from your company? If you haven't heard from Joe for a couple of weeks, call him to say hello. He should be either at therapy, the doctor's, or home. See how long it takes to call you back when you leave a message. Did Joe take a mini-vacation for five days?

Look at the worker's comp payouts for his wages. Do they have the correct wages? Did Joe include his overtime or holiday bonus in his base earnings he reported to the insurance company. When you get a request to verify his wages, and are too busy to answer, then Joe's numbers will be used by the insurance carrier.

Joe is basically an honest person but sitting home watching day-time TV can turn anyone dishonest. Every third ad is for a worker's comp attorney. So, one day Joe gets interested and suddenly he sees all new doctors, and his scheduled return to work has been extended by three months.

Enough already...Joe's accident was unavoidable, and he will return to work as soon as he can...you say. Congratulations, you are now entered into the naive-business-leader-of-the-year-contest. Every accident is avoidable. The question is do you want to spend the training time, invest in the correct equipment, and discipline yourself and your team to work safely?

Every worker says they want to get right back to work, but studies have shown that a worker out longer than three weeks, has a much lower return to work rate. Get Joe back to work, away from the TV and the doctors, and you come out ahead.

Set-up a light duty work program for all employees. It may not be their same old job, but you should have work available for all comp cases. Maybe sweeping the floor, or filing in the office. This is the number one way to get employees back to full-time productive work. Pay Joe his normal wage, even if he were a glazier, pay that wage as he sweeps the floor. Get him back involved in your company, and he will want to go back to his regular job!

Create a menu of every job that can be done by someone on light duty. Every company can come up with dozens of items:

• Taking your trucks to the fleet wash


• Doing inventory


• Sweeping the plant


• Painting


• Teaching other employees


• Learn how to use your computers


• Learn another language


• Doing simple work like putting logos on tempered glass or operating a spacer bender


• Audits of parts and supplies room


• Filing


• Following up on old quotes


• Answering the phone

You are paying Joe's salary while he is on comp, so you might as well get some work out of it. Even if it is only a half-day, that is good. Keep people in the habit of coming to work. Even someone can only work for twenty minutes, have them work twenty on, and twenty off. It is still better than paying them to stay home and watch the commercials from the ambulance chasers.

Other things to look out for:

• Joe changes his doctor's a couple of times. All this does is continue to delay a finding that he could come back to work.


• Joe goes for an Independent Medical Examination (IME) and gets a different report than by going to his own doctor. Or, Joe cancels more than one appointment with for the IME...this shows he doesn't want to be seen by the impartial doctor.


• Watch for a claim of disability that doesn't fit the injury. In Joe's case he has a bad shoulder, and puts in for disability on his shoulder and knee.


• Watch out for the time that Joe says he wants to come back to work, but suddenly you get a lawyer's letter asking for more info. Joe watched too much TV.


• You ask Joe to come into the office for a follow-up, and he is wearing work clothes, or has grease on his hands or fresh mud on his shoes, or if you can see his car or truck, and there is a tool box.

Next week we will discuss employee surveillance, working with your insurance carriers fraud unit, your own investigator and other warning signs of fraud.

A Vacation Week

Hello to the thousands who faithfully read this blog...you get a week off from reading, as I am taking a week off from writing. We will pick up next week with some thoughts on worker's comp fraud.

My Interview with Joe Biden

The phone rang and the caller ID said 'Joe Biden'. I answered and Joe said, "Great interview with Sarah--now it is my turn. Let's get going so I can tell America, and the world, how important the glass industry is to the Democratic party, and to my hometown of Scranton, PA." It looked like this would be an easy interview after all. Joe wanted to talk about glass...it can't get much better.

I thanked Joe for being on the blog and threw my first question at him.

Paul: "Senator, tell me how the glass business is different in Delaware compared to Scranton."

Joe: "Paul, that is a great question for a glass guy. Oh, not that a glass guy can't ask a good question. I expected a question on Low-e glass, not on geography. Let me think for a minute and I will answer your question. (Pause...Pause...) OK, you see the party has asked me to count to thirty before I answer any question that I don't know the answer to, hoping I will come up with the right answer. But, all that I do is count to thirty, and don't think of answers."

"Oh well, the glass industry in Delaware is different from Scranton. You see Delaware is a full state, and Scranton is just a small city in Pennsylvania. In Delaware the glass shops can cover the whole state from one location. You can't do that in Scranton. Why it takes a full day just to get to Pittsburgh, and then after you measure the job, you have to drive a full day back to the shop to get the glass you need."

"That's the biggest difference between Scranton and Delaware in the glass biz."

Paul: "Joe, thanks for clearing that up. Our next question is about Low-e glass. Last week, Sarah said hard-coat was better than soft-coat. What is your opinion?"

Joe: "I am definitely a soft-coat guy. Our winters in Delaware are mild, you know, and we hardly ever get snow, so a soft-coat is just perfect for me and my family whenever we need coats. In Scranton, up in the mountains, you probably need a hard-coat to stop all of the freezing rain and sleet."

Paul: (With a quizzical look on my face) "Joe, I think I meant which coat gives better thermal performance?"

Joe: A soft duck-down coat is best, whether you are in Delaware or Alaska."

Paul: "Let's move on. Who do you think is the best fabricator in the United States?"

Joe: "Paul, that is not a fair question...I didn't do my homework on the whole country, just in the Scranton and Delaware areas. The best fabricator is Northeast Laminated Glass. These guys are true Democrats. They have hired laid-off workers, have fought the big guys, and they don't make enough profit to qualify for the McCain tax cuts. The co-owner, a loyal Democrat named Tom Zaccone, works so hard that he doesn't take a day off, other than to campaign for me...but wait, that isn't the reason they are the best fabricator...there is not any politics in my answer...oh...what is the next question?"

Paul: "What other fabricators are there in Scranton or Delaware for you to compare to?"

Joe: "I looked at that Oldcastle Glass company and at Arch, and they don't have a company in Scranton, so they can't be very smart to miss out on the best city in America. Of course, Wilmington, Delaware is also a great city, and...you guessed it, no fabricators there make the big time. That is what makes Scranton the best city in America."

Paul: "Joe, if Barack and you are elected, what will your program be to help the glass industry?"

Joe: "Why, that is another great question for a glass guy...Did you rehearse with Lyle Hill, the wise guy from US Glass? We would hold a hearing in the Senate to ask this very question of plumbers and glaziers named Joe (just like my name!). I am sure we will find that the employees in glass companies need better health benefits, need relief on their home mortgages, and need glass gloves that don't smell like old sardines after a day's work!"

"I think we will have to limit imports of glass from China and make every piece of glass in America into Solar glass that will make electricity. Why, if every picture frame in America could make energy, our problems would be solved!"

Paul: "Joe, solar glass only works in glass that gets sunlight. How would you make that work in picture frames?"

Joe, "That's simple...we pass an environmental law that says every picture frame in America has to be hung in a window, and we have solved the entire energy future of America."

Paul: "Thank you Joe for your time today. By the way that is a nice suit you have on. Did you buy that in Scranton or in Delaware? Joe...wait, don't leave, just answer this one last question...Joe...oh well, he is gone.

Well, to all of you out there in Blogland, you now have the insight into our two Veep candidates so that you can make the decision who to cast your vote for. Keep thinking about this right up to the moment you pull that election lever...vote for the candidate that you feel will help the glass industry!!!

My Interview With Sarah Palin

So, I was watching the debates and the news. I learned that Joe the Plumber isn’t exactly what the news director had ordered. It was then that I realized that neither candidate had taken a position on the glass industry and our questions---soft coat vs. hard coat, union vs. non-union labor, Viracon vs. Oldcastle Glass vs. Arch.


I sent an immediate e-mail to both campaigns asking for guidance on these key issues. An hour later, the phone rang. The Dems said to check in with them next week, but the Republicans needed every plug they could get. They sent the investigators and discovered I was not part of the liberal eastern media, and thought it would be a great chance for Governor Palin.

Here is the transcript of my interview with Governor Sarah Palin about the current state of the glass industry.

Paul: Welcome Governor Palin. It is an honor to have you visit my office in New Hampshire to discuss the glass industry.

Sarah: It is an honor to be here in a New Hampshire, which is a border state, just like my state of Alaska. Can you see Canada from your home here?

Paul: Almost—it’s only 153 miles to the border with Quebec. Sarah, what was it like when you first saw Russia? Were you looking through float glass or sheet glass up there in Alaska?

Sarah: Oh, it was a sheet of glass. In fact, it might have been one of these sheets with the vacuum in it. You know the vacuum glass that saves energy. It was a vacuum glass because there was no dust in it.

Paul: You mean insulating glass?

Sarah: Oh no, there were no pink fibers in the center, there was no insulation in the middle.

Paul: I see. Governor Palin, do you think the future is in soft-coat or hard coat low-e glass?

Sarah: Paul, I am glad you asked this question and not another question about which newspapers I read. You see, I have studied this in preparation for this interview. Moreover, as a mother and almost as a grandmother, you have to be hard with your children. You have to teach them about the hard decisions there are to make, as citizens, and that people will always be trying to trip them up. So, while I know soft-coat may give better insulation, I think we need hard coat. Everything in life will be hard and we have to teach that to our kids. Of course, we have enough oil in Alaska to make up for all of the energy wasted. If only John were to become President, then we could drill-baby-drill right in my backyard.

Paul: Uh, Governor, what is your stance on union labor requirements in the glass industry?

Sarah: I am all for the union. 150 years ago the South tried to break up the union, and I, for one, am glad they didn’t succeed. The union is very important to us in Alaska. We weren’t a state during that war, but if we were, we would have been for the union. If there is another war about the union, count on me to send the Alaska National Guard.

Paul: Governor, I meant union labor on construction work in the glass industry. Should it be required?

Sarah: Now I get it. Thanks for explaining the question. I believe every union worker should work; so should all of the regular Americans who want to work. Working is the cure for our economy. John wants to cut taxes on the rich and on my oil companies so they can spend more and hire your union workers. Of course, we will trickle our money down to all workers, and I sure hope that those union workers vote for me because I work hard too.

Paul: I see. (Pause) Now, Governor, Do you think Viracon, Oldcastle or Arch is the premier glass fabricator in the United States?

Sarah: Thanks for this question Paul. I studied this on the drive here to New Hampshire, knowing you would ask it. On my way here, I looked out the window of my armored Suburban and saw all the pretty colors of the leaves. The reds and yellows and the oranges. In fact the oranges reminded me about pumpkins, and Halloween is coming next week, and I think all of the little ghosts and goblins coming to your door should get candy. None of this healthy stuff…this is the night for candy. If you give out what you grow, then the workers at Hershey can’t make any more chocolate bars, and they are important workers in our economy. In these tough economic times, spending money on chocolate is important. When I grew up we never had chocolate melt in our pockets…it was way too cold…but when I was thirty years old I finally came to the lower states and had my first melted chocolate bar, and it was gooey and it tasted good. If you don’t support these workers making American chocolate you are hurting our country.

Oh, where were we?

Paul: I asked you about Viracon, Oldcastle and Arch.

Sarah: Oh yeah, I studied them on the way up here. And you know what, they are all confused. One of them has only three branches, and the others have way too many. Is there really that much glass business in the Chicago area that there are so many fabricators? When I become the Veep, I will call for a summit meeting of the Chicago fabricators and help them carve up the territory so that all companies can be profitable and pay less taxes under the McCain economic plan. Then I thought why Chicago? Should there be more in New York, or Los Angeles? Or Cleveland? Of course there should. So, I agree that Arch does have the shortest name.

Paul: Sarah, you have left me speechless. Thanks for visiting me and for being on our blog, where next week we will meet Joe Biden and learn about the state of the glass industry in Scranton. After that we will go back to fraud in workers comp.

You Should Be Afraid of Fraud

Fraud Happens. Never in your business. Always in someone else's. You watch things too closely. You know what is going on. And, you trust your people. They would never steal from you. And by the way, be sure to leave your list for Santa; Christmas is only 72 days away.

You get a call to give a quote and it looks like a home-run. All you have to do is send in a small deposit to get the plans. Just give your AMEX number and the plans will be overnighted. You think anyone would know this is a rip-off, but thousands of contractors, in many fields, fell for this one last year. IF IT SOUNDS LIKE IT IS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE--it is. No one picks you out of the yellow pages to give you a guaranteed hit. Never give your credit card number to someone you don't know. If you are interested, call them back at their office. Google the name. Are they in the Yellow Pages? Will they give references? If they want the cash or your card number now, run in the other direction. Any legit business relationship can stand a day's wait while you check it out. If they won't wait...don't do the deal. If someone calls your company asking for bank or credit info, instruct your staff that this type of call goes directly to senior management. Teach your crew that all company information is confidential and cannot be given out except by management.

Most fraud is done by employees. According to one survey in the late 90's, 58% of fraud was committed by ordinary workers, 30% by managers, and 12% by executives. Look at all aspects of your organization. Also, men were responsible for four times as many frauds as women, but women had a higher average take than men.

Checking your credit for identity theft is advertised on TV every day. Did you ever check your company's history with the credit bureaus? A company is easier to scam than an individual! At least twice a year you should get your profile. Always check your credit card bills, demand receipts from each employee who has a card, and match them to your monthly statements.

Employees who have committed fraud have been interviewed. One of the most common reasons given is: They saw the boss do it, so it was OK for them to do it. If you handle cash in your company, put every cent on the books, and let your people know you do this. You set the tone of the ethics of your business. No one else. If employees see you pocket cash, they will too. And if you catch someone doing it, they can easily blackmail you on your own creative accounting.

Are you checking the references and backgrounds on potential employees? Most of you are not. I've seen too many companies that hire anyone who comes in the door, and wait a couple of weeks to see if they can cut it in their company. If some one is a part-timer, or a temp employee, they can do as much damage as a full-time employee--in fraud as well as worker's comp problems. Look for gaps in employment of longer than a month. Run their driver's license through your insurance agent to check for suspensions. Call their previous employers and get valid references. I do not accept the excuse that it will delay the hiring a couple of days, and you might loose a good employee who wants to work right away. You are paying dues to the short-run devil at the expense of the long-term health of your company.

Another common scam is the office supply scam, where a company calls you, saying they are your supplier of copier paper, and it is time for a re-order. You might just sat yes to a reorder too easily. Many do as this is one of the most profitable scammers games there is. Confirm that this is indeed your vendor, ask for their address, for your account number from them, the brand of paper they sell. If you just give them a verbal yes, you will get a delivery at a higher price than you expected, and you will receive lesser quality than you paid for. The tip-off is the delivery is COD. Never, ever, give COD for basic products that you buy in your community, to a company you don't know. If they want to visit you, and have you fill out a company credit application that is OK; they will never show up and you will be ahead of the game.

If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, flies like a duck, it is not a diamond in the rough waiting just for you. Don't be naive in business. The people who create and implement these scams are pros at it. Be careful and you will avoid their duck droppings!

Next week we will discuss fraud in worker's compensation--the biggest single extra cost to small and medium sized businesses in the US.

Keeping Your Money In Your Business

FRAUD. The single word that scares business owners more than any other. You can control purchasing, labor, even customers. You only spot fraud after a loss has occurred. As you take measures to prevent fraud, you never know if they are successful, as you hope there are no problems in your company in the first place. There are many easy-to-implement fraud controls you can put in place that are sound business practices. Let's look at a few that every glass shop should implement.

The single most important control is to enforce that any employee who handles financial information, and especially cash, must take their annual vacation. A bookkeeper who insists that no one can do his/her job, and doesn't take a vacation, is becoming your silent partner. Bet on it.

You, as the owner or manager should sign every outgoing check. Time consuming--yes--it is worth it. Not only is this rule #2 in fraud prevention, but you will know more about your business than you every thought possible. When I worked at Floral Glass in New York, either the President, Chuck Kaplanek or myself hand signed every check. This would take two-to-three hours twice a month, but it was worth the effort. We spotted problems early on; we prevented fraud; and all of our employees knew there was no way to hide a problem, so we worked them out rather than burying them in another purchase order. If you use a payroll service to prepare checks and they are presigned, then look at the register that comes from the service and scan each name and the amount of the check. If you don't recognize the name, ask. If someone has earned more than you expected, ask.

Every check written should have back-up documentation--the invoice from the vendor, the packing list from your receiving of the product, and a sign-off that the received goods are correct and usable. If you don't recognize the vendor name, stop and find out who they are. You must know every vendor. One of the most common fraud tricks is to create a dummy vendor, and process checks to them as normal business.

Never let the person who prepares your checks balance the checkbook. Even if you have just one person in your office, do the bank reconciliation yourself, or have your accountant do it.

If you use your credit card to purchase company goods, take a hard look at the monthly statement. If you use electronic payment for bills, then have your bookkeeper prepare the list of payments for your approval, and when you are ready to have them input to your bank, sit with your bookkeeper for five minutes and have all of the input done at one time. You should keep the password to yourself. You are saying, why should I do this when I have hired a bookkeeper? Just like your parents told you when you were a kid...because I said so. You reserve the final sign-off on all quotes for yourself, cash flow is just as important.

There is a line between your installer doing a good job and earning a tip, and doing extra work that should have been billable through your company. This is the hardest fraud to detect. You can look at the supplies used for a job, you can look at time sheets, and you can make follow-up phone calls inquiring if everything is OK with the work your firm did. About the only way you will really know this one is for your customer to call up and say they wanted more work done at the cash price, or they have a complaint about the work or the installer.

Teach each and every person in your firm that doing extra work is immediate cause for discipline, up to and including termination. Explain that if one person does this, they are stealing from all the other employees as well as the company. Don't back-down on this one if you find your best installer is your partner for a few minutes every day. If one person gets away with this, and you don't react, every work crew you have will be doing this real soon.

Just about everyone takes credit cards. The most common fraud here is giving credits. An employee swipes their own card, or an accomplice's, and issues a small credit to their own account. Credit card merchant statements are tough to read. Have your bookkeeper highlight every credit on your monthly statement and give you the back-up paperwork why a credit was issued. This also helps you understand where problems occur and a customer is asking for a refund.

You can buy a simple cash register at your office supply vendor for a couple of hundred dollars. Insist that all transactions get rung up and a receipt be given to each customer. Follow this yourself and set the example. If an employee sees you putting some cash in your pocket, they will feel they can also. I know...some people creatively handle their cash transactions. Just don't do that in front of your staff.

Next week we will talk about other fraud detection and prevention ideas.

Owning a Glass Shop is Better Than Owning the New York Mets

My dreams have been shattered yet again. There is always next year. There is no joy in Mudville. So what, it is only a game. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a die-hard New York Mets fan. And my boys dropped the ball, again. They had it in their hands, and no one could take it away, if they just held on. They didn't, I'm upset, and yet, this morning in Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, the sun did rise.

My boys came in second in the American League East, and second in the National League Wild Card. In baseball, second is just not good enough.

Is it good enough for the glass business? You bet it is. We all set different goals for our businesses. It may be a sales total, or having a certain backlog amount or getting a certain share of the market. You can set any goal you want, but the most basic of all goals, and in the long-run the only one that counts, is achieving an amount of profitability to pay yourself, your investors, and have extra to grow the business.

The American League East has five teams. If you have five competitors, and somehow you knew every one's profit, and you were in second place, meeting the above goals, I would consider that just about wonderful. I remember watching the Olympics last month, and how disappointed the Silver medalists were. They had worked so hard, and yet were heart-broken not to earn the Gold. To me, they were still second best in the world at their specialty. Not Bad.

A glass shop owner or manager has to set goals and monitor the success of reaching these goals. This is the way to motivate people, to measure yours and their successes and to stop problems when they are small. When you set your goals for all aspects of the business, keep in mind that setting a profit goal is key. Don't set it to be the best in your area in profit. Set it to be enough to pay yourself a fair salary, earn a return on your investment in equipment and maybe a building, and to have something to grow with. Do this and you will be a champion each and every year. Just don't bet your profits on my Mets.

How much is enough profit? If you make 10-15% net profit before taxes, give yourself a pat on the back. From 5-10%, it is time to take a good hard look at specific areas in the company. Where are you spending? What is your overhead? How can you bring in more profitable business? Are you paying yourself a nice paycheck, without the profit being there? Speak with your accountant to help pin down where the profit is or isn't. Maybe you run a really good shop, but you need more sales. Maybe it is in your purchasing. Maybe it is your collections.

If your profit is less than 5% of sales, you really have to consider if this is the best line of work to be in.

My consulting partner, Stan Lane, has told me that he never bought a loaf of bread with a percentage point. So, if your profit is 5%, but that is still a lot of money, than you are OK. But if your overall dollars are that good, then you should find the reasons in your company you are not making a higher percentage.

Check your profit at least once a quarter. Many companies do it monthly. Do you have a bookkeeper? She/He should be able to do this easily. Now, one month does not make a panic, but trends are easy to spot if you look for them. Is labor, as a percentage of sales, increasing? Are materials costs going up, and you are not passing these increases through?

So, second best in profits is great, if it meets your goals.

Tempered Glass Is Always Perfect...Except When It Isn't

Every fabricator strives to deliver perfect tempered glass. That is why you buy from them. Most of the time, they succeed in this perfection. Sometimes their in-house quality program will reject glass, but you never know this. What happens when they ship the glass and your foreman says, "Boss, we have a problem!" Could be you and the fabricator are working to different standards of perfect. ASTM C 1048-04 is the standard for Heat-Treated Flat Glass, either Heat-Strengthened or Fully Tempered. This is the puppy we should all be petting.

Last week we learned that flat glass isn't perfect, so if a fabricator tempers a piece of flagrantly flawed float (say that three times), and it still meets the standards, you own it. Tempering adds even more variables to the mix.

Let's read excerpts of the standard on distortion in glass:

7.4.1 "Thermally tempered and heat-strengthened glass is made by heating glass in a furnace to a temperature at which the glass becomes slightly plastic. Immediately after heating, the glass surfaces are rapidly cooled by quenching with air from a series of nozzles. The original flatness of the glass is slightly modified by the heat treatment, causing reflected images to be distorted."

7.4.2 "...Fully tempered and heat-strengthened glass that has been made in a horizontal furnace my contain surface distortion. Distortion will be detected when viewing images reflected from the glass surfaces.

7.4.4 "Sealed insulating glass units also exhibit distortion regardless of glass type. Air or gas, trapped in the sealed airspace between the panes, expands or contracts, with temperature and barometric changes, creating a pressure differential between the the airspace and the atmosphere. The glass reacts to the pressure differential by being deflected inward or outward."

The standard addresses concerns that we all have. It acknowledges that glass isn't perfect. Mostly, when it comes to scratches and rubs in glass, the flat glass standard C1036, applies. So if a scratch is not visible from 11 feet away, it doesn't exist. These standards are critically important to your business. Ask your fabricator for a copy, or go to ASTM.org, where you will pay a fee for a download.

The biggest issues with tempered glass is size tolerance and 'bow and warp'.
There are special sections that address both of these.

Here is a basic chart for size tolerance that should be adhered to:

Thickness.........Finished Size Tolerance, Length or Width, plus or minus
1/8 ......................... 1/16
3/16 ....................... 1/16
1/4 ......................... 1/16
3/8 ......................... 3/32
1/2 ......................... 1/8
3/4 ......................... 3/16

As this is a plus or minus tolerance, one side of a 1/2 lite can be full by an eighth, the other side shy an eighth, making the lite 1/4 out, and it still is acceptable.

The standard for bow and warp is based on the overall size and thickness of the finished lite. Let's look at the allowable bow in just two thicknesses,

Size(in) 20-35...35-47...47-59...59-71...71-83...83-94...94-106

1/4 ..... (.12).....(.16) .....(.20)....(.28)....(.35)....(.47).....(.55)
3/8 ..... (.08)......(.08)....(.16).....(.20)....(.24)....(.28).....(.35)

A lite of 1/4 tempered, 48 x 96, can be warped over a half-inch! Do you find this acceptable? The standard does, and if your glass comes in with this warp, what do you do?

Talk with your fabricator early-on in your relationship and understand what tolerances they ascribe to. Do they have a tighter standard for a high-quality piece like a shower door or table top, than they do for general glazing? This is the key. Know what your fabricator expects of themselves and you will know the standard you can promise your customers.

One last thought, these standards are not law. If you make a contract with a customer to provide perfect glass, that is fine. Buy you probably will need to order two or three lites to get one that is dead-on perfect. If you try to always sell perfect, you better adjust your pricing now.

Understanding the Glass Standards

Glass and perfect don't go together in the same sentence. There will always be something that the fussiest customer will complain about. Your two options are curling up with a bottle of Southern Comfort or understanding the glass standards that are used within our industry.

The basic standard is ASTM C 1036-06. This means: American Society for Testing and Materials, Standard # C1036, updated in 2006. If you want to download the full standard (for a small fee) go at ASTM.org and you will see the breadth of their offerings. You may be able to get a full copy from your glass wholesaler or key fabricator.

This is the standard for flat glass, that is annealed glass coming from the floaters. Tempered and laminated glass have different standards which we'll discuss in the future. But this is the parent of all the standards. If something is allowable by this standard, it is allowable in tempered or IG, or Lami, or whatever. I cannot stress how important it is for you to use this standard. Your vendors do. I bet every glass shop in America has called up their fabricator complaining about a small scratch on Mrs. Johnson's IG unit, and hears that it is within standards. You must understand these standards, and be able to manage your installs and problems using C1036-06 as a guideline.

Let's look at the standard. Again, this is for annealed glass, coming from the floater, or going to you, or to your customer. there are various sections in the standard, here is section 1.3: "The specification cover the quality requirements of flat, transparent clear, and tinted glass. This glass is intended to be used primarily for architectural glazing products including: coated glass, insulating glass units, laminated glass, mirrors, spandrel glass, or similar uses." This covers it all. Your products are in this list.

The next point to understand is there are 4 different qualities of glass mentioned, Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4. Each has different standards, with Q1 being the fussiest and Q4 the most lax. Q1 is defined as glass for high-quality mirrors, Q2 for general use mirrors, Q3 for "Production of architectural glass products including coated, heat treated, laminated and other glass products.", and Q4 as general glazing applications.

The average glass shop should expect their products to meet Q3. Here are some examples of the Q3 standard:

• Blemishes under 1.2 mm allowed
• Blemishes 1.2-2.0 mm allowed if 24" apart
• Blemishes over 2.0 mm not allowed

So if there is on small blemish in a piece delivered to you, you own it.

Let's look at one other part of the standard--The Q3 "allowable Shell Chip Size", which details what size chips are allowed:

• Chip Depth Less than or equal to 50% of glass thickness
• Chip Width Less than or equal to glass thickness
• Chip Length Less than or equal to 2 times the chip width.

So if you sell 'perfect glass' and promise beautiful glass, you may not be able to purchase beautiful glass from your fabricator. Sure, you can buy two of every order, and one will be better than the other, but you won't be in business for more than a week or two. Ask your fabricator what standards they use, and if they do the same or better than C1036. That answer is what you have to sell to.

Tempered and Lami have even looser standards, which we will discuss next week.

No News is Good News

Due to a hospital visit, I won't be posting this week. See you next week!

Paul

Glass Ain't Perfect, But My Grammar Is

My grammar is the best...she made a blueberry pie to die for, and always had a hug when my knee was scraped. Wait a minute--you mean the other grammar. Glass isn't perfect. Are you happy now?

How can you be happy that glass isn't perfect? If it were perfect, you would have no rejects, no call backs, no back charges. Life in the glass business would be boring. Of course you try to install perfect glass on every installation. You spend hours polishing out scratches on mirrors and shower doors. You inspect, you protect and yet, blemishes magically appear after you finish the installation. Now What?

You can redo the installation, driving you out of business in no time if you did this for every complaint. You can try to field-fix the problem, making a mess of the location, and probably making the blemish worse than when you started. You can offer the famous 'cash discount', hope the customer bites, and back charge your fabricator. You can sit in a corner with a bottle of Jack Daniels and wish the problem away. You can send your partner to the customer, and be sure that when he leaves they will never buy from you again.

What's left? How about accepting the fact that glass isn't perfect. We all know this, but do we want to admit this to our customer? Most retail customers want something perfect installed in their home or office. We know that within a couple of weeks they will scratch the shower door or table top; but they want it perfect today!!!

OK, buy from a fabricator that cares about quality. Buy from the cheapest generally means quality control is weak or non-existent. Make sure they wrap, (with a clear plastic), all fabricated mirror, shower doors, table tops, Starphire (tm) pieces, and any beveled or notched pieces. There is a size limit to this concept. Don't expect larger than 30-35 sq feet to be wrapped.

Buy from a fabricator that allows you to inspect the glass and call in a problem within 24 hours of your receiving. If you put received glass in a rack for a week, then look at it on the way to your customer, and then see a defect, you own it. It is your responsibility, not the fabricator's, after 24 hours.

Do you try to install it anyway? Hoping the customer won't notice? Sometimes you can put a scratch in a far or high corner. Sometimes, (if you're lucky), the molding will cover. Sometimes, you need to explain to your customer that while the scratch is visible from an oblique angle, it is within acceptable standards for the glass industry.


What the ____? I wanted perfect...not acceptable! Here is what you need to know about industry standards. The bible here is ASTM C1036-06. What the____ is this? This short document lists just about every defect known to a glass man, and what is acceptable. ASTM C 1048-04 does the same for tempered or heat-strengthened products. Ask your glass vendor for a copy. Or go ASTM.org and download (for a fee) these standards. Try the GANA site, glasswebsite.org for more info. Of if you have the GANA glazing manual, the most important sections of these specs are included.

Next time you print your quotation forms or your invoices, place a short line, (along with your financial terms), that the glass products you install will meet the standards as set forth by the American Society for Testing and Materials, for the glass type purchased, and that a copy of the standard will be given upon request. Each state may have certain rules about disclaimers like this, so the next time you are having lunch with your attorney, ask if there are restrictions in your state.

There is nothing carved in law about these standards. If your customer wants perfect and you explain the standards, they still may not pay you. But, experience has shown me that most reasonable consumers will accept these standards. If you have Mrs. Marilyn Unreasonable concerned about her shower door and threatening about payment, remember when you took the job? You knew she would be 'one-of-those', and you threw the dice. Just about every glazier who called me about a defect from our factory prefaced the conversation with, "I've got this crazy customer...". And I felt for them, dealing with the public is the hardest part of a retail glass shop's life.

OK, you are with the customer and trying to explain the charts in these standards. I will go over them in the next couple of blogs.

By the way, we won't be publishing a blog on September 9; we will back at the keyboard for September 16, when we'll discuss the standards, helping you to understand and use them.

Why Did They Go Out Of Business?

Make a list of your seven strongest competitors over the last three years. Odds are at least two of them are out of business, and one, while still in business, is no longer a competitor. If you can figure out why they went out of business, and prevent these situations in your company, you may have a long future. Let's try!

So, write down seven top competitors to your broadest lines over the last three years, ignoring if they are currently in business or not. For each one, take a few minutes and write out all of the strong points of each competitor, and in a second column, write out the weaknesses of each. You will find the ones that are no longer in business have a longer list of weaknesses, or one weakness so overpowering that you wrote it in CAPITAL LETTERS.

Combine the lists of weaknesses, and on another page, a list of the strengths.

Do the same thing, honestly, for your company. Stand outside your own shadow, and write honestly. You don't have to show this to anyone, so be as candid as you can be. Include your own personal strengths and weaknesses right along with the company's.

Bake in the oven for 45 minutes. Oh, wait....that's another recipe.

If the weakness you wrote for your company match the weaknesses of the companies that are out of business, you now have a blueprint to change your company as quickly as you can.

If you see that your strengths are in the same categories as your competitors weakness, go after these areas. Promote and advertise your strength. Invest in your strengths to improve your facilities and your people. Your weaknesses will probably be the strengths of the current companies. Start a 'weakness-of-the-month' plan, trying to improve one area a month within your firm. Look at the other's strengths, and use those as benchmarks for your growth.

Make a list, check it twice, and suddenly, your company is better, (translate=more profitable). This is not rocket science. You can do it. Sometimes you need an outsider to help you understand your own strengths and weaknesses and to help you lay out a path to improve. No matter---it is up to you to do it the improving

Nobody knows your strengths and weaknesses better than you do. If you are honest about your company and your competitors, you will have a handy checklist for a year's worth of improvements in your hands.

Is There Religion In Your Company?

Last week our Presidential candidates were speaking about the role of religion in their lives. We see and hear this every day from the news media, and the pollsters seem to feel that religion will have a large impact on the election. Most, but not all, Americans are affiliated with an organized religion. What does this mean for your glass company? How does religion affect how you operate your business?

The answer is it shouldn't.

I know, treat people fairly and honestly; do not lie or cheat; and don't say bad things about other people, or religions. These may be religious tenants, but they are rules that we should all live by....no matter what or if there is a religious factor in your life.

So, what is this blog about?

Religion is a significant part of most Americans life. Let's see where religion does impact our businesses. The largest impact is on hiring. You cannot ask some one's religion; you cannot ask what Church they go to; you cannot ask if they keep a special diet proscribed by their religion; you can't ask their opinion on religious beliefs; and you cannot make being a follower of a certain religion a prerequisite for hiring.

You can ask if someone is honest, loyal and all of the Boy Scout Oath characteristics. You just can't ask about religion.

You should ask if the potential employee can work overtime...if they have any work restrictions. If you have a "Bona Fide Occupational Qualification" (BOQ), that says an employee must be available on Friday nights, and a Jewish person will not be available on Friday nights, you may pass on this person. This has to be a legitimate need. Not just a made-up need to help you screen people. If you are hiring for a week-end shift, and the applicant says he cannot work on Sunday Morning, from 9:00 to noon, then you have the right not to hire. But, if you hire someone for a Mon-Fri job, and later you ask for Sunday O/T, you can't force someone to come in on Sunday, if they say their religious observations conflict. You can't punish them, or fire them for not coming in on Sunday, (or Friday night if Jewish) if you didn't tell the employee at the time of hire that there may be O/T at these times.

Yes, you can hire people of all one religion. You can put religious signs or icons in your showroom. You may mention Biblical quotes in your advertising, or have them written on your truck. But, you may not make being of a certain religion the only criteria for hiring. If you only advertise for help-wanted in Church newsletters, or on Religious Radio Stations, your applicants may fit your desire. The biggest mistake you can make, though, is turning someone down, who may otherwise be qualified, and wants to work for you at your stated wages, because you don't know, or disagree with their religion.

It is OK for you to give a discount to your local church when they need glass work. You don't have to give a discount to every Church that calls you. But if you give every religious group a discount, don't hold back if a Church you disagree with asks for a price. Legal or not doesn't matter as much as the bad publicity you can create.

You can close on religious holidays. It is your right to run your business as you see fit, but be sure to pay everyone the same for the day off. This may be no pay...that is OK as long as you do it consistently through your company. If you give employees an option to work on Good Friday, you should also offer the same option for other religious days, such as Ramadan or Passover. Don't get carried away with this...you can probably find an obscure religious holiday on just about any day of the year. Know your workforce, and set this policy accordingly.

You should also be aware that there are organized religions that don't celebrate holidays. If an employee is a member of the Jehovah's Witness religion, they won't accept a Christmas Bonus. If you give this as a performance bonus, it is OK. If you put "Christmas Bonus" on the check, it will not be cashed. You should be aware of your co-workers so you don't embarrass yourself or your employee.

If your business niche is to service religious buildings, then advertise it. Tell about your expertise with stained glass, for instance.

You can do a lot with your personal religiosity in your business. You can and should set an example of personal ethics and integrity. You just can't discriminate in hiring or in pricing with customers.

Getting Rid of Your Smoke-Filled Office

We discussed the costs of smoking in your company. One study says that a smoker costs a company, your company, $3,500 a year in lost work productivity and increased costs. Another study says over $6,000. Whatever. It costs you and it costs your employee. Yet, you do have the opportunity to save this money, and help your employees and maybe yourself.

Don't think of yourself as the 'morals police'. This is not a campaign to impose your way of life on your employees, but a way to make your company more efficient and profitable. More than half of the people who try to quit smoking don't succeed. Don't be upset or vindictive if your employees don't succeed. Try again next year. Don't think of this as a waste, you have made it better for the next year's program. Encourage the stoppers, but say nothing to the one's who continue. An owner or manager should never belittle an employee over this.

Plan this smoking cessation carefully. To begin, announce the program will start a couple of weeks down the road. Get people used to thinking about. If you have positive reinforcement, your employees will look forward to it. Put up signs saying "Two weeks from Monday you will feel better", or "Next Monday you will be able to breath". Always start on a Monday, so that the employee's time is taken up with work. If you start on a Friday, over the weekend, people will back slip. The Monday start gives them 5 days of support before they are home for the weekend.

Have your financial plan ready before you announce the program. Call your health insurance carrier and see what they cover in smoking cessation. Some pay in full. If yours doesn't, how much is the deductible, and how much is the co-pay for the nicotine patch? Usually, the worker needs to spend between $50-$100 out of pocket. I would offer to pay this for each employee, up to a maximum point you will set. This is a small investment for a big return. On your posters, make one that says "A one-pack-a-day smoker will save $2400 a year".

The best things you can do to initiate a smoking cessation campaign are:

1. Go to smokefree.gov on the Internet. They offer realistic and easy tools to help. There are plenty of free booklets for you to download and hand out to your team (in English and Spanish). They offer free advice, both real world and medical, and personalize support if needed. Use the Internet or call 1-800-QUITNOW, (800-784-8669).

2. Google the phrase 'stop smoking', and you will find many other groups with information and help, both for the smoker, and the company trying to implement a program.

3. Be positive. Support success, don't berate slipping back.

The best other resource you can get is to call your local chapter of the American Cancer Society (cancer.org), American Lung Association (lungusa.org), or the American Heart Association, (americanheart.org). All three of these groups will definitely help you set up a great program.

Be supportive of the program. Have plenty of sweet mints and candies available. If possible have cut up carrots or celery available to munch on. This helps control the oral sensation of not having a cigarette.

Encourage the rest of the company not to smoke in front of or near someone trying to stop. For the first week or two, don't let the employee go to job sites that are smoke filled, like restaurants or bars.

Have lots of cold water and juice available. Drinking a lot helps flush the body of nicotine quicker. The quicker it is out of the body, the easier to quit.

Avoid coffee breaks where smoking was the norm. Avoid fat-filled foods, you will gain some weight stopping smoking, and watching your diet may help offset this.

Eat slowly, so that your full meal time is taken up by eating, and you have no time for an after meal cigarette.

Exercise a lot, this helps the body rid itself of nicotine and other smoking chemicals. Find out if your health plan offers gym or health club benefits and promote this with your employees.

Post this phone number: 877-44U QUIT (877-448-7848), a live person will talk with you from the National Cancer Institutes's free smoking quitline.

Enough for now. Remember, you as a leader can influence the outcome. Be supportive, be proactive, and you and your company will come out ahead!

Cigarettes Are Bad For Your Business...But Peanut Butter Cups Are Perfect!

Of course I am prejudiced, I don't smoke and I do eat peanut butter cups.

Now that I have that disclaimer out of the way: smoking is bad for everyone's health and is very bad for your business. If your state bans smoking in indoor places, enforce it in your business. If the decision is yours, implement a no-smoking policy as soon as you can.

Why?

Smoking costs you, the owner, a ton of money. Here's why---

• Lost Productivity. A smoker will spend 10-15 minutes per day lighting up, looking for ash trays, pausing with that first puff, and taking two minutes talking with each person that comes over to borrow a cigarette.

• Safety. Two men are carrying a 72 x 100 mirror. The one with the cigarette let's it fall from his lips, hitting himself on the knee. The natural instinct is to brush the ash off before it burns him. OOPS...a broken mirror at best and a cut on the other guys forearms at the worst. You can't yell out a warning if your lips are stuck around a cigarette. You are not looking at your surroundings if you are lighting a cigarette. Cigarette butts all over the floor present a slip factor. Driving your company van and lighting up will cause higher accident rates

• Higher Insurance Rates. Your health insurance will be higher as you will have higher claims. Many auto insurance policies give a Non-Smokers discount of up to 10%. Most life insurance companies give a significant discount to non-smokers. Studies have proven that a smoker takes longer to recover from an injury or operation. The longer an employee is out, the higher is your worker's comp premium. Your property insurance carrier may give you a discount if your property is a non-smoking facility.

• The Bucks. A smoker who does a pack a day spends, on average, $35.00 a week. If your employee stopped smoking and kept this money, this is equivalent to $1820 after tax, about $2400 pre-tax, or about $1.25 an hour. Save a couple of hundred on personal insurances, save on dry cleaning and replacing clothes with burn holes, and the average one-pack-a-day smoker saves about $2.00 an hour. By working on smoking cessation programs, some of your employees will be getting more take-home money, which means less pressure on you for wages.

• Image. The image of a smoking installer at Mrs. Jones house, with her white rug, should scare the heck out of you.

• Hiring. You will hire better people if you advertise yourself as a smoke-free business. Who wants to work around other smokers, unless they are smokers themselves?

• Health. If you are alive, you know that smoking is not good for your health. If you help people stop smoking, you get a gold star for your forehead, and a happier and healthier work force. Savings are OK, but it is even better to make your work force healthy.

Are you convinced yet? If you, as the owner smoke, then by quitting and setting the example, you become the hero and will feel better in the morning. No medical photos here, you know what smoking does.

Next week I'll go over a couple of ways to introduce cessation programs in any type of business. Peanut butter cups. however, are worth the calories and don't affect the lungs.

George Just Quit! Now What?

In last week's blog George Glazier quit. You, as his supervisor, or owner, have to decide whether to accept George's resignation, or try to keep him as an employee. You made your list of pluses and minuses, and it is a draw. Nothing clear cut; let's look at a couple of issues, and the great decider: DOLLAR$.

If George quits saying he has a job with a higher rate of pay, what are the options. If you grant a small increase, you have opened the flood gates through your entire company. Don't believe, even for a second, that this will be kept confidential. I promise you George has told his buddy, and Buddy told six people. If you give in to George, five out of the six will be in your office within a week or two.

If George's offer is for real, does the other company offer the same total package that you do? $20 a week can be a lot, but if George is losing a 401K, or a better sick day policy, or education pay-back, then you should remind George of this. (You should make it a point to learn the programs of your friendly competitors. If you tell them yours, will they tell you theirs? Most will!) If you have better programs, and George didn't understand, maybe you will salvage him without paying more.

A short interruption---most employees of just about every company, don't fully understand their benefits. In my consulting, one of the first things I do when meeting employees is to have them tell me about their benefits package. It is always a shock to ownership that they pay for benefits and the employees don't use or know about them. Since you are paying for the benefits, make sure to teach your employees how to use them. Most employees who are new to the US workforce don't know how to use medical insurance, or what a 401K is. Here is a Paul Promise--teach your employees how to use your benefits, and what the value of these benefits are, and you will have happier employees at no increase in costs.

If George still thinks the $20 a week is more important, do you want to give him the raise, while you look for his replacement? Is it better to keep him working? My opinion--Don't do it. The morale of the rest of the company will go down, you will be inundated with the same request, and just after you do give the raise to everyone, three months later, it will start all over again!

Let's look at unemployment costs. If George doesn't get the raise, and quits, you must fight his unemployment. (What--his other job didn't come through???). If you wait a month, find his replacement and let him go on your terms, then you will be paying the unemployment, and paying, and paying.

What if you tell George you were planning to give him a raise, and you will move the date up to now? Even if this is true, you will hurt the company by using this. Every one will be in the next day asking about the raise, and are they getting one? This is just about the worst answer to give.

George isn't stupid...he has come to you just after someone retires, or has an injury, or has quit to open his own business. George feels he has you over a barrel. In this case, clearly, let him move on to his greener pastures. Yes, you will be out of sorts for a couple of weeks, but in the long-run, it is worth it.

If George tries to get you to bump him up, and you do, don't be surprised if he still goes. George will probably go back to his job offer, tell them you met his demand, and will they continue bidding to keep him. It is much easier for them to change his starting salary then for you to issue a company disruptive raise. George is playing both sides, and you will always lose if you play this game with him.

There are many more variations of this gamble. If George is a good employee, instead of just granting a raise, give him extra responsibilities or extra hours so he earns more. Give George a goal, like getting a CDL, or learning how to cut heavy glass, and give him a raise after he meets this goal. If George comes to you asking how he can earn more, find a way to do this. If George says pay me more for the same amount of work, say "Goodnight George."

George Glazier Just Quit Working For You--Now What Do You Do?

George, one of your glazing crew just walked in and gave you two weeks notice; so, what do you do? First thank him for his courtesy, second, ask him why he is leaving and where he is going, and lastly to wait outside your office for five minutes. Take this time to organize your thoughts. You want to plan what to say, what actions to take, rather than react on pure emotions.

On a pad, layout the pluses and minuses of George's resignation. Ask yourself:

1. Are you and your company better of with or without this person?
2. Is he as good on his job as you hoped he would be when you hired or promoted him?
3. Is he reliable?
4. Do you think he is trying to bluff you to work a counter-offer to stay at a higher rate of pay?
5. Does he care about the company's best interests? Or does he only care about what's in it for him?
6. How is his safety record?
7. How does he get along with customers? Co-workers? Management?
8. Do you have a person in mind who has asked about employment at your company?
9. Is the reason he told you a valid reason for leaving your company?
10. Is there a problem that you are trying to fix and if he knew about your efforts to fix it, would he stay?
    

This is a lot to think about in five short minutes. Here's my take on these questions:

1. Are you better off? This is the biggest of four key questions. 'With', then keep going. 'Without', then don't waste any more time. Accept his resignation and move on to the next important issue of running a glass business.

2. Is he as good? 'Yes' here; keep going. 'No' here; again, don't waste any more time.

3. Reliable? A 'yes' here is a plus. A 'no' here is a deal-breaker---let him go.

4. The counter-offer bluff? 'No'--keep writing. 'Yes', let him go now. Even if you think he is underpaid, if he didn't come up to you earlier and ask about a raise, or ask if he could work O/T, or ask if he could learn more to earn more, then he is not serious about working for you. You will only encourage this type of blackmail with other employees if you give in to this action.

The next six questions are not as absolute, but any one may be absolute to you. Consider these as parts of the puzzle. Three or more negative answers should tell you to accept the resignation.

5. Does he care? 'Yes', he cares about the company is a plus. 'No', he only cares about himself earns a minus sign.

6. Safety? A 'good' safety record is required, and is a neutral answer. A 'weak' or 'poor' safety record is negative.

7. Working with people? If he gets along 'well' with all three groups, it is a plus. Any group that he doesn't get along with gives a negative rating to the whole question.

8. Replacement? A 'yes', you do have a person in mind who would be an equal or possibly better than the current, is minus on trying to keep the person. A 'no' is neutral, only meaning you have to look at other characteristics.

9. Valid reason? A 'yes', means you should listen to him and see what his concerns are, and maybe you should talk in depth to see if these are serious, if they can be resolved, and if it would be a benefit to the company to have them resolved. Even if they are valid reasons, if they have not been brought up before, and the first complaint you are hearing is the resignation, something isn't quite correct. If you don't feel comfortable, or just wrote a 'no', place a minus on the score sheet.

10. Fixing a problem? A 'yes' says, tell him about the problem from your point-of-view, and what you think will be the solution. There may be parts of the solution you can't discuss, like you are planning to replace his supervisor. All you can do is tell him you are working on something, and you hope he gives you the time to act. If you can't tell the solution, ask if will stop in after you implement your changes, and see about a rehire. If he is not interested in listening, give him a minus.

OK, your five minutes are up. You ask him to come back in, and what do you do? We'll talk about various options next week; and how to tip the scales in your favor.