Page 70 - An Indispensible Resource for Being a Credible Activist

and should have been, this will become one of your most important files, which you should
keep both at work and at home in duplicate.
This file will also come in handy when interviewing for HR leadership positions. You want
to always remember that you are interviewing the company just as much as it is interviewing
you. This is even more important for HR professionals who are credible activists. Why?
Because you want to be sure that the company is aligned with your HR credible activist com-
mitment. You don’t want to wind up working at a company that will react badly to your imple-
mentation of the PACE strategy. You don’t want to work for a company that does not intend to
adhere to relevant laws and policies, that does not apply relevant laws and policies consistently,
or that will ignore, veto, or override your recommendations because it has no intention of han-
dling HR matters properly, lawfully, ethically, or consistently. See HR Tools entitled “Sample
Memo Regarding EEO Compliance Concerns,” “Sample EEO Training Aid,” and “Sample Memo
Cautioning against Unlawful Retaliation,” on pages 60–63, for examples.

ADDRESSING OSHA COMPLIANCE

In 2008, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) conducted 77,179 total
inspections in response to over 6,696 complaints from employees and as a result of their
own inspection plans regarding unsafe working conditions. In 2008, there were over 87,687
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violations and over 956 fatalities due to workplace injury or illness nationwide. Historically,
OSHA has often been understaffed and underfunded given the number of complaints it
receives, which translates into fewer complaints being investigated or less thorough inves-
tigations of complaints, or both.
Just as with EEO laws, HR professionals have an ethical duty and a professional respon-
sibility to address issues of unsafe working conditions. There are many ways to raise this
including a cost/benefit approach that may work best with a leadership who considers
safety laws to be unnecessary and costly inconveniences.
Making the business case for adhering to safety laws, providing safety trainings, and
implementing strong accident-prevention educational programs and procedures often comes
down to numbers and publicity. Just as with EEO laws, even if a company leader believes that
OSHA safety regulations are unnecessary and costly inconveniences, he or she will likely not
say so publicly. Executives, shareholders, and other company stakeholders and leaders do
care about publicity given that it does affect profits and reputation even if not immediately.
There may be times when an employer will reasonably question whether an employee’s
claim of having sustained a workplace injury or illness is legitimate. Workers’ compensation
fraud is real. In these instances, you’ll want to follow your state’s guidelines for controvert-
ing any such claims and be aware of all paperwork and deadlines necessary for doing so
properly. You will also want to be aware of your workers’ compensation insurance carrier’s
procedures for doing so.
Comparisons between injury rates within an industry are very telling, as are the rising
workers’ compensation insurance rates a company with many injuries will experience.
Presenting it as purely a financial issue is one approach if that is the message that will get
through to the recipient. You know best what will or won’t work, given to whom your memo
has to be presented and who the ultimate decision makers will be.
CHAPTER 4 • Legal Issues for Credible Activists 53