...Scenario Summary: Karen is a human resources consultant at a local utility. Originally, the work requested was project-based. Karen was asked to develop training materials for an upcoming session on diversity. Cynthia, the human resources manager, was very happy with the work that Karen did and asked her to work on some additional projects. Before everyone knew it, Karen had been working at the utility for five years. Karen has been paid a monthly base salary of $10,000 per month. Karen has received a 1099 for her wages over the past five years, but has not received a W-2. Karen was not offered any benefits, but when she was hired, she did not need them, as she was happily married. However, Karen's husband recently passed away and she asked Cynthia about receiving benefits. Cynthia has denied Karen's request. Karen's title, when she started, was Human Resources Temporary, but her new title evolved into Human Resources Consultant to be more consistent with others in the department who are doing work similar to hers. Karen does have a contract with the utility. Karen has had other limited clients over the years. She had one client for an approximately 40-hour project two years ago, and she currently has another client that keeps her on a retainer basis. Since she was denied benefits, Karen has contacted the IRS to ask them to determine her status. Your role/Assignment: Your role is to decide if Karen is an independent contractor or an employee and discuss some of...
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...1.Do you feel that Karen is an independent contractor or an employee? What is your rationale for this decision? The differentiation between an independent contractor and an employee is a critical one for any employer to make. Furthermore, this choice can have significant implications for the business regarding additional fees and taxes. In this situation, Karen was initially hired as a temporary employee. Moreover, Karen has functioned as an independent contractor for 5 years. If one were to look at her employment status, they would see that Karen has additional clients outside of the local utility as well as the fact that she has not received benefits or proper tax documentation for this period time. For these reasons, Karen should be classified as an independent contractor for the local utility. 2.What factors do you feel help contribute to Karen being an employee? The IRS generally makes this determination. The IRS uses three characteristics to determine the relationship between businesses and workers, including the concept of behavioral control that covers facts that show whether the business has a right to direct or control how the work is done through instructions, training or other means. In addition, financial control covers facts that show whether the business has a right to direct or control the financial and business aspects of the worker's job. Lastly, the type of relationship factor relates to how the workers and the business owner perceive their relationship...
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...Summary: Your Role/Assignment: Your role is to decide if Karen is an independent contractor or an employee and discuss some of the preventative and ethical situations that are occurring in this case. Questions: 1. Do you feel that Karen is an independent contractor or an employee? What is your rationale for this decision? I feel that Karen is an employee. The reason for this first of all is that she has been there for five years and the company has changed her title from Human resources temporary to Human Resources Consultant. Karen is also doing similar work to others she works with and that is why they changed her title. Overall, Karen has been consistently requested to work on multiple jobs for the utility and should be considered an employee after five years. 2. What factors do you feel help contribute to Karen being an employee? I think that the fact they utility changed her title from Human Resources Temporary to Human Resources Consultant is the main contributing factor to her being an employee. The other would be how the company has consistently for five years keep hiring her for project after project. 3. What factors favor her being a contractor? The fact that Karen never received a W-2 form would be one factor. The other would be that she does have a contract with the utility. Karen also contracts her services to others other than the utility which would make her a contractor. 4. What are some potential legal implications in the...
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...Name Victoria Berahmandpour Date 01/23/13 Scenario Summary: Karen works as a consultant at local utility. She was started five years ago for a project. Her job was to develop training materials for an upcoming session on diversity. Her manager, Cynthia, was happy with her work and asks for more projects. Karen was based on salary of $10,000 per month. She has received a 1099 for her wages for last five years. Because she was contractor, she didn’t receive any benefits. After Karen’s husband passed away, she did request for benefits, which was refused because she had contract with the utility. However, she was doing work like other regular employees in human resource department. Karen has had other limited clients over the years. She had one client for an approximately 40-hour project two years ago, and she currently has another client that keeps her on a retainer basis. Your Role/Assignment: Your role is to decide if Karen is an independent contractor or an employee and discuss some of the preventative and ethical situations that are occurring in this case. Questions: 1. Do you feel that Karen is an independent contractor or an employee? What is your rationale for this decision? I think that Karen should be considered an employee of the company. She has been working for the Utility Company for five years and she has been received salary. She was started as a contractor to develop training material for upcoming session on diversity. However...
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...you feel that Karen is an independent contractor or an employee? What is your rationale for this decision? Karen is a self-regulating contractor as she has never been hired on to ABC Utility as a permanent employee. Karen was brought on as a human resources consultant. My grounds for this decision is based on the fact that Karen has been working for the company for a period of five years and began her career with ABC as an independent employee where the human resource manager became very happy with her work. Karen never had a need for benefits prior to her husband's death and due to his death, she finds herself suddenly needing to have benefits. 2. What factors do you feel help contribute to Karen being an employee? The factors that help contribute to Karen being an employee is the fact that she has been working for the company for a length of five years now where other employees have developed a rapport with her and see her as one of the regular employees. Perhaps portraying to have a solid working relationship with the human resource manager may also be leading to others seeing Karen as a permanent employee of ABC. Being paid a base salary of $10,000 a month also helps to portray that Karen is an employee of ABC. 3. What factors favor her being a contractor? The factors that favor her being a contractor is the fact that she also works for other clients that keep her on a retainer along with those who she's worked with throughout the years as an independent consultant....
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...feel that Karen is an independent contractor or an employee? What is your rationale for this decision? Karen is a self-regulating contractor as she has never been hired on to ABC Utility as a permanent employee. Karen was brought on as a human resources consultant. My grounds for this decision is based on the fact that Karen has been working for the company for a period of five years and began her career with ABC as an independent employee where the human resource manager became very happy with her work. Karen never had a need for benefits prior to her husband's death and due to his death, she finds herself suddenly needing to have benefits. 2. What factors do you feel help contribute to Karen being an employee? The factors that help contribute to Karen being an employee is the fact that she has been working for the company for a length of five years now where other employees have developed a rapport with her and see her as one of the regular employees. Perhaps portraying to have a solid working relationship with the human resource manager may also be leading to others seeing Karen as a permanent employee of ABC. Being paid a base salary of $10,000 a month also helps to portray that Karen is an employee of ABC. 3. What factors favor her being a contractor? The factors that favor her being a contractor is the fact that she also works for other clients that keep her on a retainer along with those who she's worked with throughout the years as an independent consultant...
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...role is to decide if Karen is an independent contractor or an employee and discuss some of the preventative and ethical situations that are occurring in this case. Questions: 1. Do you feel that Karen is an independent contractor or an employee? What is your rationale for this decision? Upon Karen’s initial hire, her title was clearly defined as a “Human Resources Temporary”, in which in error, she has been compensated as an independent contractor. Karen’s position with the company is measured as a white collar job (e.g., accounting, engineering, law). These jobs can be considered as consulting jobs. Please take not that a consultant can be “independent” or a “temporary worker” based on the contract agreement between the two parties. An employer does not have to necessarily hire an outside agency to recruit and staff employees for short-term or long-term projects. The ABC Utility company can hire on temporary workers which are classified as casual workers, seasonal, or interim and offer or decline healthcare benefits. This gives the ABC Utility company flexibility for improvement and keeps down their costs. Karen’s title changed to be of similarity to other workers, yet her position with the company still remains as having a contract with the ABC Utility company. 2. What factors do you feel help contribute to Karen being an employee? The rule of thumb for contracted workers, casual or temporary, differs from an independent contractor. Many companies have...
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...Karen is a human resources consultant at a local utility. Originally, the work requested was project-based. Karen was asked to develop training materials for an upcoming session on diversity. Cynthia, the human resources manager, was very happy with the work that Karen did and asked her to work on some additional projects. Before everyone knew it, Karen had been working at the utility for five years. Karen has been paid a monthly base salary of $10,000 per month. Karen has received a 1099 for her wages over the past five years, but has not received a W-2. Karen was not offered any benefits, but when she was hired, she did not need them, as she was happily married. However, Karen's husband recently passed away and she asked Cynthia about receiving benefits. Cynthia has denied Karen's request. Karen's title, when she started, was Human Resources Temporary, but her new title evolved into Human Resources Consultant to be more consistent with others in the department who are doing work similar to hers. Karen does have a contract with the utility. Karen has had other limited clients over the years. She had one client for an approximately 40-hour project two years ago, and she currently has another client that keeps her on a retainer basis. Since she was denied benefits, Karen has contacted the IRS to ask them to determine her status. Your Role/Assignment: Your role is to decide if Karen is an independent contractor or an employee and discuss some of the preventative and ethical...
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...would be. * a. An employee was suspended pending discharge for sleeping and “loafing” on the job. The employer offered to change the penalty to suspension without pay if the plaintiff would sign a “last-chance agreement” under which he waived and released “any claims, suits, or causes of action” against the defendant. The employee refused to sign because he was unwilling to waive his rights to state unemployment benefits or workers' compensation. Under state statute, agreements to waive such rights are invalid. The employee is discharged. [Edelberg v. Leco Corp., 236 Mich. App. 177 (1999).] * b. A nurse is asked by her employer to sign a backdated Medicare form. She refuses and is terminated that day. As a healthcare provider, she is required to complete that particular form. [Callantine v. Staff Builders, Inc., 271 F.3d 1124 (8th Cir. 2001).] Exceptions to the Doctrine of Employment-at-Will States vary in terms of their recognition of the following exceptions to the doctrine of employment-at-will. Some states recognize one or more exceptions while others might recognize none at all. In addition, the definition of these exceptions also may vary from state to state. * • Bad faith, malicious, or retaliatory termination in violation of public policy. * • Termination in breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. * • Termination in breach of some other implied contract term, such as those that might be created by employee handbook provisions...
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...Karen may have an action against ABBBW for her broken arm. The occupier-occupant relationship is an established duty case. The facts also clearly establish breach by stating that ABBBW had ‘carelessly forgotten to put up a sign’. Finally, causation is clear from the statement that Karen tripped ‘due to this instability’. The only issue which must be addressed is whether the legislative presumption of contributory negligence is applicable to Karen. Contributory negligence Section 95(1) of the Civil Law (Wrongs) Act (CLWA) states that contributory negligence will be presumed if the injured person was intoxicated at the time of the accident. It is noted that Karen enters the waterhole after consuming a litre of wine. Although other factors which influence the effects of alcohol are not mentioned, such as Karen’s body mass, the large quantity of wine consumed means that ABBBW would probably not have a problem establishing intoxication. However, Karen could rebut this presumption by referring to s 95(2)(a), which notes that contributory negligence will not be assumed if the plaintiff can prove on the balance of probabilities that his or her intoxication did not contribute to the accident. The facts simply state that Karen lost her balance ‘due to the instability’ of the waterhole and no indication is given that her intoxication made the accident more likely. Without evidence to the contrary, Karen would likely recover in full for her broken arm. Karen v ABBBW (2) ABBBW...
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...Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative University of New Mexico http://danielsethics.mgt.unm.edu Mattel Responds to Ethical Challenges INTRODUCTION Mattel, Inc. is a global leader in designing and manufacturing toys and family products. Well-known for brands such as Barbie, Fisher-Price, Disney, Hot Wheels, Matchbox, Tyco, Cabbage Patch Kids, and board games, the company boasts nearly $5.9 billion in annual revenue. Headquartered in El Segundo, California, with offices across the world, Mattel markets its products in over 150 nations. It all started in a California garage workshop when Ruth and Elliot Handler and Matt Matson founded Mattel in 1945. The company started out making picture frames, but the founders soon recognized the profitability of the toy industry and switched their emphasis to toys. Mattel became a publicly owned company in 1960, with sales exceeding $100 million by 1965. Over the next forty years, Mattel went on to become the world’s largest toy company in terms of revenue. In spite of its overall success, Mattel has had its share of losses over its history. During the mid to late 1990s, Mattel lost millions to declining sales and bad business acquisitions. In January 1997, Jill Barad took over as Mattel’s CEO. Barad’s management-style was characterized as strict and her tenure at the helm proved challenging for many employees. While Barad had been successful in building the Barbie brand to $2 billion by the end of the 20th century, growth slowed in the early 21st...
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...Executive Summary Whistle blowing is when an employee raises a concern about wrongdoing or malpractice in the workplace that has a public interest aspect to it. Persons who act as whistle blowers are often subjected to retaliation by their employers. Therefore it became important to protect whistle blowers by introducing the Disclosure Protection Act (Act 26 of 2000). The purpose is to provide procedures and offer protection to employees against organisational detriment. Even though the Act intends to protect whistle blowers, the reporting rate has declined. Thus it is crucial to investigate the current procedures in order to provide recommendations to improve the Act, consequently curbing fraud and miscarriage of justice. Question 1 • How are informants being protected? As employers and employees consequently have to disclose criminal and unwanted conduct within the workplace, steps need to be instilled by employers to ensure that whistle blowers are protected from occupational detriment. This act attempt to prevent employers from treating disclosing employees with detriment such as disciplinary action, demotion, harassment, unwanted transfers, etc. • Who is being protected? Employees disclosing legitimate concerns about irregularities are being protected by the act. Those employees are to be protected from unwarranted conduct by their employers and cannot be discriminated against. They may not be victimised or penalised by their employer in any form for having made...
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...Interview with Laura Hollis, Director (Human Resources) Structure. How are units or divisions organized? Who is in charge of HR policies for the overall organization? for each division or unit? How is HR handled in other countries? A very complicated organization. On a global level. Opportunity International as a global entity is structured = from a global perspective supporting partners and implementing partners. Opportunity US and UK and Australia and Canada and Germany are supporting partners. They are autonomous and have their own board of directors, staff, and policies. She works for HR at Opportunity US. On the global side, there is a network services organization that is the association of the support partners and implementing partners that due the lending. Functions like an organization. Provides global strategy, best practices, product development, and start ups in the field, etc. They have a diverse group of people…the network itself is a Swiss Verines to collect dues from different organizations. People who work for the NFO would be Collin McCormick, Lynn Akson...40 or so at the NSO. They are hired but support partners, primarily opportunity US. Once they are hired by the support partner organization, they are succunded by the organization. All of their work and mgmt comes out of network services. Support partners, network services, and. NGO’s are autonomous that have their own HR departments and policies and procedures. They do all of their own recruiting,...
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...The Continuing Evolution of the Pharmaceutical Industry: Career Challenges and Opportunities December 2007 Michael Steiner, CFP®, CPA David H. Bugen, CFP®, MBA Brian Kazanchy, CFP®, CFA, MBA William T. Knox IV, CFP®, CFA, JD Margaret V. Prentice, MBA Lauren Goldfarb Mark P. Hurley Steven E. Cortez Christine L. Boudreaux Benjamin J. Robins Yvonne N. Kanner Shehzad Sippy Adam L. Bartkoski Ana M. Avila RegentAtlantic Capital, LLC Michael Steiner is a Wealth Manager and Principal with RegentAtlantic Capital, LLC, and head of the firm’s Pharmaceutical Executive Services Group (PESG). David H. Bugen is a Wealth Manager and Principal, and Brian Kazanchy is a Wealth Manager. William T. Knox IV is a Wealth Manager and Principal. Margaret V. Prentice is the Chief Marketing Officer and Principal, and Lauren Goldfarb is the Business Development Coordinator. Fiduciary Network, LLC Mark P. Hurley is President and CEO of Fiduciary Network, LLC. Steven E. Cortez is Executive Vice President. Christine L. Boudreaux is Director of Adviser Communications, and Benjamin J. Robins is General Counsel. Yvonne N. Kanner is Executive Vice President and COO, and Shehzad Sippy is a Research Analyst. Adam L. Bartkoski is Director of Adviser Operations and Development, and Ana M. Avila is an Intern. © Copyright Fiduciary Network, LLC, 2007 This material is for your private information, and we are not soliciting any action based upon it. Opinions expressed are our current views only, at the...
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...This week's graded topics relate to the following Terminal Course Objectives (TCOs): A | Given an organizational requirement to conform business practices to both the law and best ethical practices, apply appropriate ethical theories to shape a business decision. | I | Given specified circumstances of a business decision to expand to international markets, determine what international legal requirements or regulatory controls apply. | Topics for This Week's Discussion * Introduce yourself to your professor and the rest of the class. (not graded) * Thread over TCO A/I (graded) * Ethics and Patent Rights Post 9/11 (graded) * Q & A Forum for your questions and comments (not graded) | | There is a drop down arrow next to the "Select a Topic" box. Click on this arrow to select topics for discussion. | ------------------------------------------------- Top of Form Select a Topic: Bottom of Form The World Bank Situation (graded) | Class, please read Chapter 2, problem 5 from the Jennings text, p. 72. This week, we will discuss the Wolfowitz situation at the World Bank. Consider the questions at the end of the problem as you make comments in the threads this week. What are the ethics here? Was Wolfowitz trying to do the right thing? Does that make a difference ethically? Throughout the week, I will bring in further questions. Be sure to read the lecture and the international ethics article stated in your reading for the week as well. | ...
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