February 24, 2026  • By Dennis Beaver

When several contract medical professionals at a major West Coast health care center were informed they would be required — and not paid — to attend a six-hour OSHA safety course, plus a one-hour in-house course on email phishing, I heard about it from multiple people. Needless to say, they were not happy, so they complained to management.

But it gets worse. One of the people who reached out to me wrote that after the complaints, “The CFO announced, ‘We figured a way around that. We’ll just have our intermediary log on and take the test(s).’ That’s not only (deceptive), but identity theft! Dennis, can you imagine that?”

Yes, I sure can. It looks like this: “Will the responsible person please raise their hand? Good. Now, go home, grab a toothbrush and kiss your family goodbye, because you might be going away for quite some time.”

This situation is perplexing for another reason: These medical professionals can each easily generate $2 million in revenue yearly, sometimes far more. So requiring them to pay for the required courses leads me to conclude that management was standing behind the door when common sense was handed out.

When your family doctor is owned by private equity

Do you have a family doctor? Probably not in the sense of a doctor who has her own general practice right downtown, is her own boss and makes her own medical decisions about your family’s welfare. It’s likely that a private equity firm, “Big Medicine” (what I’m calling the firm that owns the health care center I’m writing about) purchased her practice, and she now works for, and is beholden to, their bottom line.

It is no secret that the major consolidation of physicians’ offices and regional medical facilities — especially in radiology and cancer treatment — has been linked to patient dissatisfaction and significantly higher rates of unhappiness and burnout among physicians.

Anyone who doubts that should check out the report The Harm from Private Equity’s Takeover of Medical Practices and Hospitals by Andrew Schlafly, general counsel for the Association of American Physicians & Surgeons.

One physician friend compared what is happening to American medicine as “a version of the 1958 movie The Blob, in which a gelatinous alien from a crashed meteor begins consuming everything in its path.” (It’s a great flick, by the way, and free to watch online.)

Mr. CFO, will you please talk to me?

Of course, I wanted to verify what my medical sources were saying, so I phoned the main office where they work and asked to speak with the CFO, but wouldn’t you know it? He was too busy. So, I left my number so he could call me when he had some time to talk, and it has been days with no return call.

Next, I called the headquarters of Big Medicine, reached its equivalent of a media spokesperson’s office and left a polite request for a callback. You can guess how that turned out. Very few corporate employees are going to admit to a journalist, “Yeah, we were going to commit the kind of fraud that could land one of us in the slammer.”

Analysis from a labor and employment attorney

Over the years, several labor and employment attorneys have become friends of this column, providing insight into job-related issues that have greatly helped my readers.

When I ran what I knew by “Kate,” in Dallas, she said, “It is difficult to believe that management would be so reckless to save a few dollars, have an employee fraudulently assume the identities of these physicians and take the tests.

“But stupid, cheapskate decisions by people who should know better pay (attorneys’) bills.” (Kate asked not to be identified so she could speak bluntly.)

I asked her, “Does it make a difference if the medical professionals were actual employees or working as independent contractors and their employment agreement specified they were responsible for the cost of all required government tests or continuing medical educational expenses?”

She had a commonsense answer. “What their contract specified is not the issue,” she replied. “Trying to commit fraud on OSHA and assuming the identities of the physicians — that is the essence of what could boomerang down hard on whoever came up with that idiotic idea.”

What the employers face

If the people at this business actually carry out this fraudulent plan, they might want to know that submitting false documentation to OSHA regarding employee safety training constitutes a willful violation that can lead to criminal prosecution, up to five years in prison and substantial fines of more than $156,000 per violation. Knowingly falsifying records regarding training is a federal crime.

Whistleblower protections for reporting fake OSHA compliance

You would be surprised at the number of business owners we have briefly had as clients who were little more than crooks with a city business license, where providing safety equipment or being truthful on CAL-OSHA filings was seen as merely optional.

When employees discover these shenanigans, they feel torn between protecting their own jobs and reporting violations, which often include:

• Creating records of safety inspections or training classes that never occurred

• Falsely dating maintenance logs to mask missed servicing

• Hiding workplace illness or injury reports to conceal accidents

So, what can employees, like my readers, do?

First, gather evidence — copies of fake reports and photos — and store them in the cloud, under your own control rather than on a company-issued cellphone.

Report this to OSHA or your state’s version of OSHA. Both offer protection for whistleblowers.

Your employer would love for you to first speak with Human Resources or the compliance office where you work. However, most employment attorneys I know recommend against that to avoid retaliation, which happens even though it is illegal.

It is also a good idea to speak with an employment lawyer before making these reports, but you’ve got to be careful. Research the firm and individual lawyer(s) to see what other kinds of cases they handle.

You’ll want to avoid any personal injury mills across the country that advertise “We’ll fight for you,” even if they claim to specialize in employer-retaliation suits.

I would also highly recommend you check out my article Beyond the Bar: Your 5-Step Guide to Discovering Whether a Lawyer Is Shady.

Dennis Beaver Practices law in Bakersfield and welcomes comments and questions from readers,
which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993,
or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1 – at – Gmail.com.

The post An Executive’s ‘Idiotic’ Idea: Skip Safety Class and Commit a Federal Crime appeared first on Dennis Beaver.

“Recently, the insurance property adjusting firm I work for hired a brother and sister, ‘Jack and Jill,’ who are competent, but their behavior around our supervisor, who is a bully, is creating a toxic environment. They are the very definition of suck-ups.

“To avoid burnout, there is an understanding with upper management about the number of hours a week we should work, which the supervisor hates. Even though it’s clear they aren’t happy being stepped on, Jack and Jill do whatever he wants, even working entire weekends, making the rest of us look lazy.

“When they praise his drive and work ethic — openly, so we hear the compliments — I just want to puke! We are all wondering why these two are so willing to be doormats. I heard Jill whisper to her brother that the supervisor reminds her of their dad. So I am thinking, ‘They are acting like victims of domestic abuse.’

“Is there something the rest of us can read that would help in understanding the dynamics and what, if anything, we can do to help them? They do not seem to be able to just say, ‘No more,’ and people are talking about quitting this place. Thanks, ‘Leon,’ on behalf of my coworkers.”

The need to please can be related to domestic abuse

“Dennis, your reader has very good insight,” says Los Angeles-based clinical psychologist Dr. Ingrid Clayton after I read her Leon’s email. “This sounds like people who were exposed to domestic trauma, learning to please and appease an abusive parent. We call that ‘fawning.'”

Clayton is the author of Fawning: Why the Need to Please Makes Us Lose Ourselves — and How to Find the Way Back, which will be published in September.

I was sent an advanced copy of this fascinating book that shines a spotlight on why we sometimes bend over backward to please a jerk, or, as Clayton notes, “to at least get that person to leave us alone, because we are afraid.”

Saying ‘yes’ when ‘no’ is called for

We’ve all known someone who was unable to stand up to unfairness at home or on the job, who caved in, saying “yes” when “no” was called for, ultimately trying to avoid some type of feared or perceived harm by appeasing the abuser.

I’ve seen this kind of conduct often in my law practice and always wonder and sometimes even ask clients: “Why are you caving in?”

Clayton’s book helped me understand how a series of life events steals from so many people what the Cowardly Lion was searching for in The Wizard of Oz — courage.

She gives us a key to understanding this disturbing element of behavior. Fawning is an insightful read — a true eye-opener — for business majors, HR consultants, managers at all levels and families who are frustrated by actions they don’t understand.

“Dennis, fight, flight and freeze are responses to perceived physical or psychological threats,” Clayton says. “But now, we are aware of the fawn response, which can become an ingrained, harmful behavior.

“Fawning is a people-pleasing strategy to stay safe by appeasing others. And, yes, while compassion and empathy are important life qualities, excessive and unhealthy fawning often results in blurred boundaries and difficulty asserting one’s needs.”

Consequences of people-pleasing

Clayton makes clear that being a “people pleaser” 24/7 has no upside. “Continually attempting to ‘look good’ in other people’s eyes comes with a high price: Chronic fawning means you lose yourself, and that can take a serious toll on your emotional well-being and is associated with anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).”

So, if you are a fawner, what price do you pay? According to Clayton, the list includes:

• Saying “no” can be virtually impossible, as you are unable to set boundaries to requests.

• You put yourself last and the needs of others first. This eventually eats at you.

• You avoid conflict at all costs, allowing small issues to grow massively.

• As people take advantage of your apparent “yes” to all requests, you become resentful.

How friends, family and coworkers can help

I asked Clayton, “What approach can friends, family and coworkers take that might help?” She had these suggestions on what to say:

• “I’ve noticed you’re bending over backward to keep the peace with so-and-so. Are you doing okay?”

• “It seems like you’re carrying a lot of weight around here. Do you feel like you have to?”

• “Is there any way I can support you?”

“These aren’t confrontational statements,” Clayton adds. “They offer care, awareness and can help the fawner begin to reconnect with their own values and boundaries. The key is to validate their survival instinct while inviting reflection: ‘You’re doing what you need to do to get through this.’ And, ‘what do you need to feel more like you at work again?'”

After reading Fawning, I couldn’t help but think, “I wish I’d known this when I was in law school.”

Dennis Beaver Practices law in Bakersfield and welcomes comments and questions from readers,
which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993,
or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1 – at – Gmail.com.

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If you were to ask just about any business owner if their employees should receive equal pay for equal work or could be paid differently, based on gender, race, color, religion, and national origin, I’m certain that most would reply, “What are you talking about? Equal pay for equal work is the law. If I respect this concept of equal pay for equal work, I’m good, right?”

Well, not so fast.

Employers today are facing pay concepts that could upset the apple cart in many organizations. Recently, several states enacted Pay Transparency laws requiring companies to be open about compensation for current and prospective employees.

Companies may share compensation information, including how salaries are determined, ranges, and even individual employee pay. But they must not conspire with other companies in the same field to keep wages low.

“Today, a lot more has been added to the concept of equal pay for equal work,” observes Northern California employment attorney and author, Heather Bussing, “that, if not understood by employers, can lead to an unpleasant work environment at the least, and potentially expensive litigation at worst.”

She and co-author Kent Plunkett in Get Pay Right – How to Achieve Pay Equity that Works, provide employers with an easily accessible approach to meeting today’s requirements on employee compensation. The concept is known as pay equity and goes beyond equal pay for equal work, the law since 1963.

In a nutshell, individuals should be compensated fairly and impartially for their work regardless of factors such as gender, race, ethnicity, or other characteristics unrelated to job performance.

Sounds simple. Right?

A Variant of Teacher’s Pet

“A worrisome issue labor lawyers often find is the employer who pays people they like more and not based on their work or the value they bring to the organization,” Bussing points out.

“When others who aren’t teacher’s pets, realize this–doing exactly what they’ve been asked to do, and maybe even better, but they’re not paid fairly for it, bad stuff often starts to happen.

“They grumble. There is unrest. No employee wants to be treated unfairly, and so they focus on how they’re being treated at the workplace rather than their work. Productivity suffers, your customers suffer, and as time goes on you lose employees. And then you’re out of business. So, it is in a business owner’s best interest to pay all employees fairly.”

But what does that mean? How do you determine what is fair?

The Economic Value of Work

“We look at the relative importance of the work–the value employees contribute to an organization and its success,” Bussing says.

“For example, salespeople are some of the highest paid, having the most direct connection to revenue. They need people who create the products, marketing colleagues who make customers aware of the products, and administrative assistants who keep everything going in the organization.

“Often we overlook the value of the work brought to the organization by employees in their individual capacities – the value of each and their work in the chain of creation,” she underscores.

Are We Paying Our People Fairly? – The Pay Equity Audit

How can an employer know if compensation is fair to everyone and avoid being sued for discriminatory pay practices? Get Pay Right gives us a by-the-numbers approach, and Bussing notes, “It’s a lot like trying to figure out how to compare houses, but instead of bedrooms, bathrooms, and square feet, we look at skills, effort, responsibility, and working conditions.”

What companies should do

She recommends that employers should value the work, not the people doing it.

Establish each worker’s expected skills, their level of effort required, responsibilities and working conditions. Study the market and learn what people in related jobs are making.

At this point, the authors recommend: “Group comparable jobs and run a statistical analysis to see where pay gaps are and whether they correlate to race or gender — whether women and people of color are making less for the same work.”

With pay gaps identified, “Determine if there is a business reason for why those people make less than others doing similar work, such as having less experience or tenure. Sometimes the person making more has special skills that justify the additional pay.”

Doing a pay equity audit will tell you where the outliers on pay are and whether there is a statistical correlation to race or gender.

Concluding our interview, Bussing notes that, “Pay equity laws apply to all employers regardless of size. Companies with at least 100 employees should do regular pay audits, which can be accomplished with specialized software.”

Bussing is a lawyer who never gave up her goal of changing the world for the better. She is all about fairness. Get Pay Right shows employers how to achieve it when determining pay and keeping themselves out of trouble.

Dennis Beaver Practices law in Bakersfield and welcomes comments and questions from readers,
which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993,
or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1 – at – Gmail.com.

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This is one of the worst flu seasons in many years.

A few days ago, infectious specialist “Dr. M” called from NYU Langone and asked that I discuss the risks to co-workers, when someone with a cold or the flu uses over-the-counter symptom-reducing medicine, goes to work instead of staying home, and spreads the virus.

“Most physicians are upset with television commercials promoting the use of these medications which encourage dangerous behavior that results in making a lot of people ill,” he said, adding, “the flu kills thousands of people every year and these drug companies should be ashamed of themselves.”

Does This Sound Familiar?

We’ve all felt a cold — or something worse — coming on, and thought, “I feel horrible, but there is so much work to do. I can’t stay home!”

So, we reach for that bottle or package of “multi-symptom cold and flu medicine,” gulp down a tablespoon, pretty soon feel a lot better and head off to work.

Yes, ideally we should stay home to protect others, we know that, but somewhere in the back of our mind are those television commercials showing people who get in the swing of things because of the cold medicine, going on a date or out skiing, having dinner with family and friends.

However, a few hours later when the stuff wears off, and we are again coughing, sneezing, and spraying virus everywhere, the boss takes us aside and says, “Go home and do not return until you are better. If you show up sick, you risk termination.”

If you come back the next day, still sick, can this legally be the basis of getting canned?

How should employers deal with these issues?

Cost to Employers

I ran this topic by Southern California labor and employment attorney, Jay Rosenlieb, asking, “When just one employee has a cold, what does this cost the employer?”

“Dennis, most people have no idea. The numbers are staggering. According to the CDC, Harvard Business Review, and Kaiser Permanente:

“The economic losses range from $1,685 to $2,945 per year per employee due to lost productivity from absenteeism, with the overall cost of sick employees in the U.S. reaching hundreds of billions annually due to both absenteeism and “presentism” (working while sick) and having to care for ill children or other family members.

This is broken down into:

Direct costs: Sick leave paid to the employee while they are out ill.

Indirect costs: Reduced productivity when an employee comes to work feeling unwell, spreading illness to co-workers.

Impact on team dynamics: A sick employee can disrupt workflow, requiring colleagues to perform their jobs.

“And that’s just when one person is sick. So, just imagine when that one person still comes to work and spreads virus, causing others to fall ill. The issue must be addressed in a policy that all employees are made aware of and is posted where everyone can read it,” Rosenlieb underscores.

Sample “When you are Sick” Language

Rosenlieb suggested using this language that should be posted in locations where all employees are certain to see it and put in as an envelope stuff with their paychecks.

(1) If you don’t feel well, stay home!

(2) If you are taking medication that suppresses cold symptoms, including fever, coughing, aches and pains, sneezing do not come to work because you are still sick and can make others ill as well.

(3) The fact that you may not be showing symptoms temporarily after taking these medications does not mean you can’t infect other people.

“Most employers,” Rosenlieb points out, “no doubt recall the nationwide guidance issued by OSHA during the COVID-19 pandemic which stated, ‘Regardless of whether it is the common cold, the flu or COVID-19, your temperature has to be normal without having taken Tylenol or aspirin. If you are taking these medications, do not come to work as you are still a risk for other people.”

“The Next time is the Last”

Rosenlieb advises employers to tell “Bob” that he is displaying cold symptoms, has the rest of the day off and to use sick pay, if he has any, and if not, a vacation day, and if not, he will not be paid.

He also must be warned that coming to work sick the next time may very well result in termination, as he is exposing others to the risk of becoming ill.

“It is important to emphasize that the employee would not be terminated because of their illness, rather, because they willfully were exposing others to infection.”

Pharmaceutical Manufacturers

I emailed several pharmaceutical companies that produce these cold and flu remedies asking: “What is your moral justification for the message: ‘Sure, you are sick, but just take our medicine, be selfish, enjoy yourself and don’t worry if you make others ill.'”

It has been weeks and no one has replied.

Dennis Beaver Practices law in Bakersfield and welcomes comments and questions from readers,
which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993,
or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1 – at – Gmail.com.

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“Mr. Beaver, your recent story about the employer who recommended a personal injury law firm to his employees because he liked the firm’s television ads hit a nerve with me. I am involved in something similar that I would like to discuss with you, and I hope you can help. Please call. Thanks, ‘Ted.’”

When readers ask me, “Where do you get such interesting stories?” — this is how.

“So, what’s going on, Ted?” I asked.

“I own an office/home remodeling company. ‘Jason’ has been here since he graduated from high school. He is 25, married and has two kids. Recently, while driving in the rain, his truck hydroplaned and slid into a ditch. He wasn’t injured, and the truck wasn’t damaged.

“The state troopers responding to the accident suspected a DUI, and Jason blew a 0.12% (the legal limit is 0.08%). He was arrested and spent the night in jail. I learned from his wife they were having some issues, and Jason was drinking way too much.”

Ted told me he did not want Jason to have a public defender “even if he qualified financially.” He had been watching the YouTube videos of Texas Judge David Fleischer and others who call attention to cases in which lawyers do everything they can to keep repeat offenders out of jail.

“Instead of letting repeat offenders spend time in custody, these lawyers enable and encourage behavior that harms society,” Ted said. “I did not want a PD to give Jason the message, ‘Drunken driving is no big deal.’”

More to the story

As no jail time for a first DUI in their state would be fairly common, there had to be more to Ted’s fear. I asked him why he was so concerned.

In answering my question, Ted revealed that he is an employer who gets it. He cares about the people who work with him — he doesn’t think of employees as working for him.

“I was in Jason’s shoes 30 years ago at age 25 and caused an auto accident where, fortunately, no one was hurt. My grandfather hired a lawyer whom he told to ask the judge to give me several weekends in jail. At that time, there would normally be no jail time. But no one told me any of this. Even though I was the client, my lawyer didn’t tell me about this conspiracy that put me in jail, and I know his silence was technically not right.

“It was a lesson I’ve never forgotten and would not have learned had it not been for those weekends in the slammer. At my grandfather’s funeral, I was handed a letter he wrote to me years earlier that explained what he had done. He saved my life and, perhaps, other lives as well. I am so grateful to him and that attorney.”

That’s what Ted wanted for Jason.

No ‘I can get you out of this’ nonsense

After seeing a TV commercial for a DUI attorney and reading many Yelp reviews, Ted hired “Greg,” telling him, “I am not paying you for a defense, so no ‘I can get you out of this’ nonsense. I want you to have Jason admit his guilt and do some time in jail, or I fear he will keep on drinking and driving. He has a wife, two kids and is putting them all at risk!”

But Greg told him that without Jason’s full understanding and agreement, ethically he could not just tell him to plead guilty. He did say he would tell Jason what Ted felt was best.

However, as Ted discovered later, that did not happen. Instead, Jason was informed there was a real defense, the case dragged on for months, and he was finally allowed to plead to “unsafe driving for the conditions.”

Jason celebrated the dismissal of his DUI, on the same day, at a bar with friends until 2 a.m. Driving home, he hit a telephone pole, winding up with a leg fracture. His blood alcohol level was 0.24%. There are substantial medical deductibles to pay.

How did this go south?

After obtaining a signed authorization from Jason and Ted, I phoned Greg, who immediately admitted his office screwed up. “I assigned Jason’s case to an associate who never saw my memo, which said, ‘Tell client what employer feels is in his best interest — based on his own experience — a straight-up guilty plea and several weekends in custody.’

“Dennis, I feel terrible about the accident, because I am quite sure without that dismissal, he never would have gone to the bar with his friends. So, I want to pay for Jason’s medical deductibles as a way of trying to make things right. Please convey that to your reader.”

Greg added, “Family conspiracies to send a loved one to jail after a DUI save lives. Jail therapy is often the only thing that works.”

I phoned Ted to tell him, “Greg would like to speak with you, and I am certain you will be pleased with what he has to say.”

As mentioned in my previous article, here are some tips if you need to hire an attorney:

Get referrals. Ask friends, family or colleagues who they’ve worked with.

Do your research. Consider the attorney’s experience and check their reviews on websites such as Lawyers.com and Avvo, paying particular attention to the negative ones.

Ask questions. Make sure you ask the lawyer about their experience and fees when you first meet.

Dennis Beaver Practices law in Bakersfield and welcomes comments and questions from readers,
which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993,
or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1 – at – Gmail.com.

The post His Employees Don’t Work ‘For’ Him, But ‘With’ Him appeared first on Dennis Beaver.

March 3, 2026  • By Dennis Beaver

“Vincent’s” tone of voice sounded urgent: “Mr. Beaver, I run a construction company in the Pacific Northwest, and we are facing a situation that I hope you can help us with.

“I’ve read your column in Kiplinger for years and recall two stories where you pulled rabbits out of a hat, convincing people to do the right thing.

“In one, you persuaded a badly near-sighted carpenter to get a pair of eyeglasses (Can an Employer Fire an Employee for Not Wearing Glasses?), and in the other, a married father with a young daughter refused to wear a motorcycle helmet (Employee Refuses to Wear a Motorcycle Helmet: Can He Be Fired?). You spoke with him, and he actually sold the bike!

“I hope you can work your persuasive magic with ‘Nicole,’ our wonderful-to-work-with 45-year-old crane operator. She has hearing aids but won’t wear them! Adequate hearing is crucial for recognizing warnings, such as horns, sirens and shouted instructions, on noisy job sites.

“Nicole is becoming a risk to other employees who work with her. Her family tells me about serious communication issues at home, and she is the family’s breadwinner, earning over $80,000 a year. Finding a high-paying job like hers, in our area, isn’t easy.

“Maybe you can get through to her — and, by the way, everybody in the office, including Nicole, reads your column, because I print each week’s story and leave it in our break room, so you would not be a stranger to her. You are my last hope.”

I agreed to try, but first I needed to understand the dynamics of someone in Nicole’s shoes and find out how I could enlist her family as a tool for change.

For the record, simply having a hearing impairment is not grounds for termination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), but that protection is not absolute. An employer could fire a crane operator for refusing to wear hearing aids if it created a “direct threat” to safety that cannot be eliminated through reasonable accommodation.

How do you motivate someone with a hearing problem to get help?

I spoke with Dr. Greta Stamper, a clinical and research audiologist and chair of the Audiology Division at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida.

“How do you begin the conversation with someone who might or might not recognize their hearing problem?” I asked her. “Also, how do you motivate them to get help, or even wear hearing aids if they already have them?”

“The problem needs to be identified before there can be any motivation to do something about it,” she said, and suggested an approach using these or similar questions:

• Have you noticed that you are struggling to hear me or don’t notice when the microwave beeps?

• Remember last week at the meat market when they called your name, but you didn’t respond?

• When we are watching TV, you turn the volume really high and use closed captioning. You never did this before. Why do you think you do it now?

“Once you have their attention,” Stamper said, “if they’ve never had their hearing evaluated, then suggest, ‘This might be a good time for a hearing evaluation.’ If they already have hearing aids, ask, ‘Can you help me understand why you don’t want to wear them?'”

Stamper added, “It is important to discover the why — the obstacle stopping them from addressing their hearing issues. Some people do not see a problem. For others, there is a perceived stigma of aging. Without some internal motivation to move forward, it is unlikely that anything will change.”

Behind the scenes with Nicole’s family

Vincent, the reader who reached out about Nicole’s issue, cares deeply about his employees and their families. He arranged a Zoom session for Nicole’s parents and me the day following my interview with Stamper.

For over an hour, they poured out their hearts about the daughter who is their sole source of support. They clearly love her and are worried about what would happen if she lost her job, but they have no idea why she is refusing to wear hearing aids.

I asked them to describe her demeanor when arguments break out, as they do in every family. “How does Nicole react when this happens? Does she participate? Think of her body language. Is she involved in the argument or discussion? Describe her facial expressions. Do family arguments seem to frighten her?”

“Yes, always. The louder we talk, the more upset it makes her,” Nicole’s mother replied.

They gave me a clue. It was time to speak with Nicole.

Zooming with Nicole — it’s all about the noise

The afternoon of February 25, it was a chilly 40 degrees in much of the Pacific Northwest, where Vincent’s company is located. It was 75 here in Bakersfield, California. Within minutes, some of our Southern California warmth made its way into Vincent’s office, where Nicole was on our Zoom call.

“Vincent wants you to convince me to wear hearing aids, right, Mr. Beaver?” she asked.

“Partially correct, Nicole. Partially. And with your help, we are going to make a whole bunch of people as happy as can be, beginning with you, because I think I know why you don’t want to wear hearing aids. Noise — loud, aimless, jarring sounds drive you up a wall, right?”

“How did you know, Mr. Beaver? It’s true! I hate those hearing aids when my family gets into yelling contests, and when I wear them on job sites, it feel like my head is in a metal trash can and someone is banging on it with a hammer.”

“Nicole, our office has several clients who have recently purchased hearing aids with noise-reducing AI technology, and they just love them. I know for sure that Vincent will buy them for you, so please ask him to join us.”

She found Vincent and brought him back into his office, and I briefed him on what he could do for Nicole, her family and his company. He agreed.

I’ll keep you in the loop on what happens next.

Dennis Beaver Practices law in Bakersfield and welcomes comments and questions from readers,
which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993,
or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1 – at – Gmail.com.

The post How a Simple Clue Unlocked a Workplace Safety Crisis: All We Had to Do Was Listen appeared first on Dennis Beaver.

Business owners, longtime employees, families — we are all caught up in life’s challenges. Things go along more or less the same day after day, and then, out of the blue, come the words no one ever wants to hear: It’s terminal.

“So many people — either those who have received that diagnosis or their employees and family members — are frozen with fear of the unknown,” says author Suzanne B. O’Brien, R.N.

Her goal: “Provide knowledge and a road map through one of life’s most difficult times.”

In her new book, The Good Death: Supporting Your Loved One Through the End of Life, O’Brien has distilled over 20 years of experience as a hospice nurse and palliative care professional into a practical guide for what can be done to help the dying person, caregivers and families, shining a brilliant light on a path through each stage of death with understanding and confidence.

If you know someone who is now facing a terminal diagnosis, The Good Death should be their/your road map. “End-of-life education,” O’Brien stresses, “has significant benefits for everyone, especially business owners.”

How to ensure that your business will survive

In her presentations, O’Brien asks CEOs of Fortune 500 companies and small, family-owned shops, “If you were suddenly removed from that space, would your business disappear?”

She cites three critical issues that must be addressed well before bad news arrives to minimize that possibility:

A succession plan, including the correct paperwork

Insurance that protects the business if you die or become disabled, known as key-employee insurance

Already-trained employees who are able to assume your duties

However, O’Brien looks not only at the impact of an owner’s death on a business, but also what happens when an employee is ill or dies.

“Often, it is pure chaos, both for the enterprise and its employees. Your company’s very continuity can be at risk, as the emotional costs of a loss are often severe and disruptive. Therefore, well in advance of that day arriving, management needs to ask: What are the tools that I can supply my employees with that will enable them to deal with one of the most stressful times in their lives?”

She answers that question by saying, “When employers take those steps to understand the human element and bring in resources to assist employees, this will make a difficult time go so much easier. This is what end-of-life education can do. By developing procedures tailored to your company — a step-by-step approach that addresses practical issues and how to deal with them — peace of mind is thereby created.”

If you weren’t here, would this come to an end?

Loss of job security ranks near the top of the list of what employees fear most. Anxiety and fear are how management consultants describe the impact on employees when learning of an owner’s illness.

O’Brien feels strongly “that employers need to reassure their people that, if they were not here, this business will go on. You want them to feel part of the company, appreciated and that you as an owner have done your due diligence and can say, ‘If I were not able to be here, we have this and this and this instituted, so that it can go on, as our mission is larger than one person.’

“You want to give them a sense of entitlement, a buy-in so they don’t have to worry if I am aging out or so unhealthy that their job and family’s security is at risk. This requires training the people you work with and establishing standard operating procedures (SOPs) so those gaps can be filled in — so that the future of the company is not in the hands of just one person.”

Peace of mind derived from planning ahead

O’Brien identifies five issues that people need to address so that they may have peace at the end of their lives:

Deciding where you want to be cared for at the end.
Coming to terms with regrets and saying “I’m sorry.” Ensuring you spend time with loved ones to say goodbye.
Accepting that a good death is really a good life, and that means living with the awareness that time is your greatest commodity. Hopefully, you can say, “I lived well.”
Finding your spiritual peace of mind.
Leaving behind organized financial paperwork.
That last one “is a big one,” O’Brien says. “There are things we all need to make decisions about so that our loved ones are not left trying to figure it all out.” She notes that among the greatest gifts you can give your family is access to your financial records, will, passwords, asset titles and key to the safe-deposit box.

Concluding our interview, I asked O’Brien about the most common regret she’s heard from people at the end of their lives. She said:

“‘I thought I had more time.’”

Dennis Beaver Practices law in Bakersfield and welcomes comments and questions from readers,
which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993,
or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1 – at – Gmail.com.

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Recently, I received an email from “Ivan,” a young university graduate with a business degree and IT specialization. He and several friends from college established an IT service company in the Midwest, with an eye toward emulating “the relaxed work-should-be-fun image that many tech companies in Silicon Valley portray.”

“My father is a CPA,” Ivan wrote, “and tells me this would be risky and that no one talks about the fun factor’s share of work-related injuries while scaring away visiting clients. What is your recommendation? I think all employees need to enjoy their workday, and some horseplay is healthy. Thanks, Ivan.”

Sure, some horseplay at work is healthy, but a concussion isn’t. We’ve all seen images of a happy, playful workplace presented by tech companies — employees dashing around on Rollerblades, basketballs hurling through the air, an atmosphere more like an elementary school playground than a serious business enterprise. Indeed, more than one business writer has asked, “Where is the adult supervision? Doesn’t anyone among these young start-up CEOs care about workplace safety?”

I checked in with Marinor Ifurung, a senior human resources consultant with KDG Law in Southern California. “There are real consequences when a work environment invites accidents,” she said, “and that’s something HR consultants are critically aware of. Zooming around the office on Rollerblades — accidentally knocking a co-worker to the floor — or someone getting hit in the head by a basketball thrown by an employee encouraged to make the workplace a fun place predictably results in injury, medical costs, time off work and financial loss to the employer.”

She added, “HR is often faced with the human side — the emotional side — of workplace safety not being taken seriously, from mom-and-pops to the largest corporations. Often, it is the last thing newly formed companies spend much time” thinking about.

Ifurung and her colleagues Tiffany Cutler and AnduAlem Yohannes talked with me about the nuances of these issues.

Maintaining a safe work environment is legally required

Cutler: In all states, OSHA requires employers to have measures in place to establish a safe work environment: Work must be accomplished in a safe manner, the worksite itself must be a safe environment. What safe is, or what is required to meet that definition, is occupation-specific and often modified by various state laws.

It is one reason that anyone going into business who plans on hiring employees should obtain guidance from an employment lawyer or an HR consultant who works with new businesses.

So often, people who start their own businesses discover the hard way that safety violations are costly.

Yohannes: OSHA’s mantra, “A Safe Workplace is Sound Business,” recognizes that safety is an investment in an employer’s most valuable asset — its employees. Prevention of injury and illness is simply good business, and this requires a dedication of resources — not just to keep the business owner out of trouble — but to encourage a culture of safety on the job.

Glaring safety failures and consequences

Ifurung: One of the most disturbing situations we see are employers not carrying workers’ compensation insurance. Most people would think workers’ comp is a given, but you would be surprised at those who feel they don’t need it. The excuse is often, “We’re too small and don’t need it, but if we do, then we’ll get it.”

The consequences of their failure (or frugality or even lack of concern for their employees) can dwarf the cost of the insurance. They can include the employer being held personally responsible for the cost of medical care, including future treatment, lost wages, penalties into the thousands of dollars, and, in some cases, actually going to prison.

Also, a “stop order” may be issued in some states that prevents the company from functioning until it has obtained workers’ comp insurance.

Surprise safety visits by state or OSHA investigators who are looking for noncompliance issues often result in fines. Also, employees are encouraged to anonymously report safety violations to OSHA.

Lack of safety training and reporting

Ifurung: A lack of safety training is a well-documented factor in workers’ comp claims. Employees are told to “work safely,” but are not trained in how to use potentially dangerous equipment. Safety training should never be a “one-shot” deal; it should be continuous.

Cutler: Senior managers and line managers should have the same goals, and workers’ safety should be seen as mission-critical. Companies could develop reward systems, and then safety would become continuous, and people would not become complacent.

Yohannes: A clear policy for reporting injuries — or even closes calls — needs to be established so employees know what their obligations are and who they should go to. It is essential to make clear that there will be no retaliation or discrimination just because a worker reported a workplace injury or safety risk.

How to become informed of your obligations

How can entrepreneurs with no prior experience with workplace safety issues become informed?

Ifurung: There are many workplace safety consultants that provide training and facilitate compliance with safety regulations with the aim of reducing the risk of accidents and injuries. Most workers’ compensation insurance companies conduct seminars and free webinars. These resources have a large online presence, so that’s a good place to begin.

Concluding our discussion, she added, “Safety is everyone’s job. According to OSHA, 80% to 90% of serious injuries are caused by human error that can be prevented by giving site safety training. More than 99% of all accidents are preventable.”

Dennis Beaver Practices law in Bakersfield and welcomes comments and questions from readers,
which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993,
or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1 – at – Gmail.com.

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“Many workplace issues that become unpleasant legal matters can be traced to questions that were not asked and complaints voiced by employees that were not explored,” says Marinor Ifurung, HR consultant with the Southern California-based law firm Klein DeNatale Goldner. “Out of fear or not knowing how to approach the problem, so often those of us in the HR world see the consequences of management walking on eggshells (because they) lack curiosity about what went wrong. It would be nice is there was a by-the-numbers guide to help restore healthier communication on the job.”

Author Jeff Wetzler agrees: “Marinor is right. Too often, we don’t find out what’s truly on others’ hearts and minds because we don’t know how to ask the right questions in the right ways. And that was my motivation for writing Ask, developing The Ask Approach.”

This communications guidebook is so needed at this time in our history, and author Wetzler is a recognized expert in adult learning and leadership development.

Wetzler divided Ask into three sections:

What people don’t tell you, why and the consequences
What do we do about it?
How to tap into what people are thinking and feeling and not telling you

When we talked, Wetzler listed the top ways that open, honest dialogue can become frustrated:

We don’t find out what the people around us are really struggling with, what they’re up against, what’s hard for them and what’s challenging.

The reason is they don’t feel safe telling the truth. “They’re worried that by revealing their struggles they would be thought of as incompetent, blamed and possibly fired,” Wetzler points out. “However, when management creates an environment of psychological safety, the entire organization benefits from necessary feedback — hearing the good and bad news.”

Actual opinions are not revealed, especially if they’re controversial and the person believes their opinion is unpopular.

Employees hold back what they really think. For example, a teammate may bite their tongue about a problem they see with a project because they worry what they have to say will upset others or make their jobs more challenging before a tight deadline. How many costly business decisions have been reached because no one voiced their legitimate reservations? If something is wrong in a process or on a project, it’s better to flag that issue as soon as possible so it can be fixed rather than letting the problem snowball.

When we come across as demeaning, we will not be given feedback.

If you disparage family, friends and co-workers to others often enough, no one will feel comfortable telling you about that spinach stuck in your teeth even though you can do something about it. Don’t be a jerk.

People will not tell us their best ideas for positive change in an atmosphere that discourages new ideas. The costs are often significant.

Think of the gold mine of insight — a wealth of collective intelligence — that is often suppressed, leading to poor decisions or failing to see the fatal flaw in plans because no one spoke up. “When someone is not telling us something because they don’t think we’re interested,” Wetzler says, “we don’t grow and learn, don’t raise our own game, as their ideas and feedback remain locked away.”

Bosses should open up first

So, how do we get people to open up and not fear embarrassment or worse? Wetzler outlines this approach: “Psychological safety is the first step in getting people to open up. We do this by opening up first, explaining, ‘I am really struggling with this, and perhaps you know something that can help me understand the problem better.’” That way, you are asking for the other person’s help. “It is important to let them know that you can handle tough feedback,” Wettzler adds. “This shows your resilience and opens the door for them to tell you what you need to hear.”

In four steps, The Ask Approach basically taps into what other people are thinking and feeling and not telling you:

1. Choose curiosity. Ask yourself, “What can I learn from this person?” There is always something more we can learn.

2. Pose quality, open-ended questions that help us learn something important:
– What’s going on here from your perspective?
– Do you know what happened?
– What might I have been missing?

3. Listen to learn. We need to listen not just for the words, but also for the emotion that’s going on in the conversation and the actions that people are taking. Are they pushing back? Are they agreeing? Are they asking for you to tell them more?

4. Paraphrase and provide feedback. Ask, “Did I understand that correctly? If not, please correct me.”

This could be the best management book you’ll ever read

In my law practice, I’ve seen so many legal disputes that are the fruit of people simply not knowing how to talk with each other, assuming facts that, as we say in court, “are not supported by the evidence.” In Ask, Wetzler takes us by the hand, and we walk down a path that brings us together. It is an important read for those of us who are frustrated with all the yelling and not enough listening.

Dennis Beaver Practices law in Bakersfield and welcomes comments and questions from readers,
which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993,
or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1 – at – Gmail.com.

The post How to Get Employees to Tell You Like It Is appeared first on Dennis Beaver.

What do you think is the most dangerous season for drivers? Many of us would think, “Winter, of course, with snow and ice in many parts of the country.”

That’s what I thought, but was corrected by a longtime friend of this column, Sacramento, Calif.-based Sergeant Adam Barresi of the California Highway Patrol.

“Most people would choose winter,” Barresi says, “but statistically, summer months have more fatalities due to increased travel, higher speeds and more drivers on the road, including inexperienced teens.

“In the summer months, there are so many horrible accidents that result from neglected (vehicle) maintenance. If a part is aging or compromised, the extra stress of high temperatures can cause it to fail.”

As we are now in summer, it is worth asking: If an accident results from proven neglected maintenance, can the driver, as well as the vehicle’s owner, be held financially responsible?

That was “Jake’s” question.

Accidents waiting to happen

“Mr. Beaver, I am a driver for a small package delivery company that services a large area in the western United States. We bring food items to mini markets, parts to automotive repair shops, paper goods to schools and offices — if it is something that a driver can physically carry, we handle it.

“Our vans are older and small. Not all have air conditioning, and in those that do, it frequently doesn’t work. The owner’s son is now running the business and is a real cheapskate. When mechanical issues are brought to his attention, typically we hear, ‘Like your job? Then fix any small things yourself!’

“In reality, most of these vans are accidents waiting to happen, and we are worried about our personal responsibility. We live in a small town where not lots of jobs that pay this well are available, and so we keep quiet.

“But summer is here, and two vans had tire blowouts and tread separation, leading to one going off the road, but no one was hurt. The police found that the tire tread was below safety requirements, but, again, this is a small town, and they did nothing.

“Do you have any suggestions? Would drivers be liable for an accident if it were related to poor vehicle maintenance?”

Driver’s duty of care

It’s common sense that if we are going to get behind the wheel of a car or commercial vehicle, it needs to be in good and safe mechanical shape.

I can’t begin to tell you the number of heat-related vehicular accidents that our law firm handled over the years. When the clock struck summer, a spike in breakdowns/accidents occurred.

Someone was at fault — the owner and possibly the driver — by failing to properly maintain the vehicle with summer heat in mind. Extreme heat exploits existing weaknesses, and regular maintenance reduces the risk of heat-related breakdowns, including:

• Having underinflated, worn tires while driving on hot pavement increases the chance of a blowout.

• Fluid evaporation/degradation can lead to battery failure and an overheated engine.

• Hoses and belts that should have been replaced can fail due to the extra load put on them in extreme operating temperatures.

• If refrigerant is low or leaking in air conditioning systems, drivers could be left without AC when it’s the hottest, impairing their ability to drive safely due to excessive cabin heat.

What can happen when a vehicle fails in the heat?

It does not matter how new your car is, heat is a great enemy, and overlooked maintenance items that wouldn’t cause a problem any other time of the year can prove fatal in the summer heat.

Just ask any police officer who has seen the results of:

• Tire blowouts at high speeds that lead to multiple-vehicle accidents from swerving, going out of control, striking a pole or going down an embankment, injuring or even killing occupants.

• Loss of brakes on steep hills or congested roads.

• Rear-end collisions caused when an engine or transmission stalls or freezes.

When a car isn’t safe to drive and someone gets hurt because of it, it’s not just an accident — it’s negligence at least, and potentially willful, leading to punitive damages if something really bad happens.

What can employees do?

So, what can employees like Jake do if their employer neglects vehicle maintenance, creating unsafe working conditions? They can file a complaint with OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration).

OSHA regulations require employers to provide a safe workplace, which includes maintaining vehicles in a safe operating condition.

Ideally, Jake and others should have a meeting with the boss and explain their concerns, but if it is futile to do so, then I would say, “File an anonymous complaint with OSHA.”

Also, consider dropping an anonymous note to the company’s workers’ compensation insurance carrier. A delivery van that is in not-so-good shape invites an accident, injuring employees and triggering workers’ compensation claims.

So a “thought you would like to know this” note should trigger an inspection and warning: Unless Uncle Miser maintains his vans, he could face much higher premiums or even cancellation.

Employers who don’t give a second thought to the welfare of their employees often pay a high price.

Dennis Beaver Practices law in Bakersfield and welcomes comments and questions from readers,
which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993,
or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1 – at – Gmail.com.

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