Employees Gone Wild

by Richard Burton

  Answer: If you’re of legal drinking age and it doesn’t interfere with your ability to do your job, probably not. But if there is the slightest sign of it affecting your job or workplace—if you smell like beer, giving a poor impression to colleagues or customers—you may find yourself in trouble. This is particularly true if any aspect of your work might involve risk of damage or injury, such as if you operate equipment or drive a vehicle. Even if you’re not impaired, the suspicion of impairment might be enough to cost your job.

  Your employer may have an explicit zero-tolerance policy, too, even if there’s no concrete risk involved. Best to have those beers after hours.

  Question: One of the managers likes to open a bottle of whiskey after five in his office. I can’t get in trouble if I go have a drink there, because he’s management, right?

  Answer: Not so fast. While the manager bears responsibility for his conduct, that doesn’t excuse you if you know, for example, that the company has a policy against alcohol on premises or if you are not of legal drinking age. The company is likely to frown on something like this in any case because of the risk of liability if someone over-consumes and is injured as a result on the way home.

  MEMO TO MANAGEMENT

  Small companies may be casual about alcohol in the office, in particular—but remember that if you’re successful, you won’t be at a small company forever. Do you want to set a precedent that will be problematic later?

  Moreover, as noted above, if the company is responsible in any way for the drinking—whether it be by hosting an event where alcohol is served, or simply looking the other way while employees have an after-hours drink in the office—the company may be liable for any negative consequences, such as accidents by impaired drivers, alcohol-fueled sexual harassment, or damage to property by drunk employees.

  This is another case in which a clear, explicit written policy made available to and acknowledged by all employees is very valuable in preventing a problem and in addressing it if it does occur.

  CHAPTER 6

  Take Cover

  When Employees (and Others) Lose It

  The phrase “going postal” entered the lexicon in the early 1990s after a series of well-publicized events in which postal workers shot and killed colleagues and others, most notably the 1986 Edmond, Oklahoma, shooting in which fourteen people were killed and six injured. We’ve taken a light tone to this point, but the extreme anguish and/or mental illness that might lead someone to such an extreme action is hardly restricted to post office employees, and the risk must be taken very seriously.

  The good news is that your odds of dying at the hands of a disgruntled coworker are much less than the risks you face from everyday activities like driving to work. Your safety is even more secure if you and your company watch for signs of trouble and respond soon enough to avert disaster.

  Employees, of course, aren’t the only workplace risk: customers, clients, visitors, or others may also present a risk to you and your colleagues.

  Laws and customs regarding weapons in the workplace vary from place to place, and requirements and standard practices will obviously differ by industry. An angry or mentally unstable person looking to lash out may use whatever is on hand. If weapons or hazardous materials are integral to your work, it’s wise to secure them or limit access to avoid access by unauthorized personnel and to minimize the chance of an impulse crime.

  The same is true for items that aren’t weapons but might be used by a person inclined to cause harm. These are generally items that are also potentially dangerous in terms of accidents—even more reason to be sure they are properly stored and managed. In addition to the risk to everyone’s personal safety, the company and its employees (meaning you) may incur liability if careless handling of dangerous items results in injury or death, accidental or intentional.

  CASE FILE

  Burning Down the Spouse

  Domestic disputes can boil over into the workplace with devastating consequences. You need only look to the news for stories of angry spouses or spurned lovers showing up at workplaces with guns or knives. Emotions run high in domestic disputes, and these kinds of situations can be very volatile as a result.

  The wife of an employee showed up at our company looking for her husband. Sensing her anger, the security officer at the front desk declined to let her in. He contacted the employee, who explained that they were going through an acrimonious divorce, and the officer was right to bar her entrance.

  The wife was not happy when she was asked to leave the premises. She shouted and made a scene and declined to leave. In the course of this, she claimed to be armed and threatened to burn down the building and everyone in it just to get to her husband.

  Trespassing would have been sufficient cause to escort her from the premises, but as soon as the threat of violence arose, the security staff felt it necessary to involve the police to be safe.

  Fortunately, she wasn’t armed, but if she had been, the consequences could have been dire. The woman was removed from the building in handcuffs.

  TIPS

  Safe from Home

  Domestic and relationship-related abuse and violence is terrifyingly common. Note these stats:

  • According to the American Bar Association, about 1.3 million women and 835,000 men are physically assaulted by an intimate partner every year in the United States.

  • The Department of Justice reports that, in a study of recent offenders, half of all perpetrators in state prison for spousal abuse killed their victim. Women represent the majority—81%—of spouses killed.

  • The Stalking Resource Center says 1,006,970 women and 370,990 men are stalked annually in the United States. Stalkers are persistent; the average stalker sticks with his victim for close to two years.

  • Same-sex couples aren’t safe from domestic violence, either. The National Violence Against Women Survey found that 11 percent of lesbians and 15 percent of gay men reported being victimized by a same-sex partner.

  These incidents are more common than you may have realized. That’s a good reason to take the risk seriously and use caution when hostility at home overflows into the office.

  TIPS

  If You Need Help

  If you are in immediate danger, call 911. Here are some additional resources, available nationwide, to help you find safety if you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence. There may also be state and local organizations in your area who can help you.

  • National Coalition Against Domestic Violence:

  1-800-799-7233 (SAFE); www.ncadv.org/

  • Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN):

  1-800-656-4673; www.rainn.org/

  MEMO TO MANAGEMENT

  Domestic issues may seem like they are not your problem, but it’s too easy for them to spill into the workplace as we’ve seen time and time again. Employees at risk require your support. Make sure your human resources staff are receptive to employees who are under threat, being stalked, or otherwise at risk. It’s not your company’s job to resolve the dispute, but the safety of your company, your premises, your employees, your customers, and your guests are most certainly your business, and it is in your best interest to be aware of and prepared for any potential threat.

  CASE FILE

  Off the Leash

  It’s not unheard of for employees, especially young ones looking to build a nest egg, to find second jobs for evenings and weekends. One young woman who worked in our sales department during the day, whom we’ll call Nancy, did exactly that as she and her husband saved up to buy a home. The outside job that fit her talents and schedule was working as a stripper.

  It didn’t take long before some of the guys in sales found out about Nancy’s other gig. Being the curious young men they were, they had to go see her shake what the Lord gave her. In fact, they became regulars at her strip club and talked about it often. Nancy was the star of the office.

  Nancy’s husband was as protective as a pit bull, and he w
as not okay with the guys from the office coming to see her so often. He began phoning Nancy’s male colleagues at the office and telling them to stop coming to the club. He threatened some of the men, saying that if they didn’t stay away from Nancy at her other job, he would come down to the office and “beat the s***” out of them.

  The threats became so frequent and so violent that one of Nancy’s coworkers was genuinely afraid and brought the issue to HR. We met with Nancy and explained that what she did on her own time was her own business, but now that her husband’s jealousy was spilling over into the workplace, she had better get him on a tighter leash, or we would have to take action.

  She managed the situation and was able to keep her second job.

  At least the guys from the office tipped well!

  TIPS

  A Little on the Side

  Some companies have policies limiting or prohibiting employees from taking other jobs. Limitations may be on the number of hours or type of outside work the employee does, or the employee may be required to clear the second job with management.

  These rules, when they are in place, are to prevent the side job from interfering with the employee’s productivity at the main job because he or she is overtired. There may also be restrictions in place that prevent conflicts of interest—such as doing work for a competitor or for a company your company does business with.

  Companies will generally make employees aware of any policies relating to outside jobs at hiring. Be sure you abide by such policies. Even if your other job is as innocuous as working at Starbucks, you could put your primary job at risk if your boss stops by for coffee and catches you.

  CASE FILE

  Conscientious Objector

  A law firm represented a company in a sexual harassment suit against a former employee of the company. The employee lost the suit, and along with it his job, and eventually his wife, who was not pleased with the behavior that came out in the trial.

  Long after the court case was done, the man showed up at the law firm’s offices and began a daily ritual of picketing outside as employees of the law firm came and went. He shouted at the lawyers and their staff about how they had ruined his life and asked how they could sleep at night working for a firm that would defend a company against him and do him so much harm. (Never mind the harm that he did to the victims of his harassment and to the company as a result of his behavior.) His picketing devolved into shouting obscenities at employees. Eventually, the firm obtained a restraining order against the harassing picketer to keep him a safe distance away from its employees and clients.

  CASE FILE

  Bombshell Offer

  Direct mail offers and solicitations are ubiquitous. We all get them every day, and they’re probably what’s keeping the post office afloat these days. You might call them junk mail, but the fact is, if they didn’t work, the companies sending them wouldn’t still be investing millions of dollars in these mailings. But that doesn’t mean they don’t irritate the hell out of some people.

  One recipient of a mailing was particularly aggrieved. He phoned our company to say that he had planted bombs in our offices, and if he received another direct mail solicitation from us, he would detonate them. “F*** you, b****” was his closing to the call.

  Of course, to make sure we knew who to take off our mailing list in order to save ourselves from harm, he gave his name.

  Between that and caller ID, we were able to identify the person making the threat and supply that information to the police.

  He claimed he was just angry and there were no bombs, but we and the authorities did check our facilities carefully to be sure. And despite the absence of any real bombs, the customer was prosecuted for making the bomb threat.

  TIPS

  On Call: Handling Telephoned Threats

  Irate or imbalanced people might use any company number to make contact, so no matter what your job, there is a chance you might be the one who picks up the phone when someone calls in a threat of harm. Here’s what to do:

  • Take all threats seriously. Even if it seems like someone just blowing off steam, don’t take a chance. If the caller says he or she might do any kind of harm, they’ve crossed the line well past simple complaining. Sure, it’s probably nothing—but what if it isn’t?

  • Write down any information the caller supplies. Don’t count on remembering what he or she said. If you have caller ID available, write down the caller ID information, too. Make a note of the time the call came in. Supply all your notes to management and/or law enforcement.

  • Contact appropriate personnel immediately. If you don’t know who that is, talk to your supervisor or head of security. If a supervisor brushes it off but you think there might be something to the threat, work your way up the line. Trust your gut. Better to cry wolf and be wrong than be silenced and someone gets hurt.

  • If there’s an imminent threat, call 911. If a specific location was named for the threat, for example “There’s a bomb in the loading dock,” clear that area immediately and let trained law enforcement professionals look for the bomb.

  MEMO TO MANAGEMENT

  Employees in customer-facing positions—customer service, reception/switchboard, order takers, and so on—should be trained in how to respond to a telephoned threat. Most threats are idle, but in the rare event that one is not, vital minutes can be lost while the person receiving the call recounts the story to a couple coworkers, wondering whether he or she should say or do anything about it, and vital information may fail to be collected and conveyed if employees have no idea what to do.

  There’s no need to make employees fearful; just make it part of your routine training in how to deal with an unhappy or angry caller.

  CASE FILE

  Baby Fresh

  It’s becoming a common response to direct mail solicitations for recipients who don’t want to hear from a company to stuff the postage-paid return envelope with miscellaneous items, most often the torn-up solicitation. It doesn’t get you off anyone’s mailing list, but maybe it makes some people feel better.

  An angrier-than-average recipient decided, in the wake of the anthrax mailings some years ago, to send a company a little bit of white powder to express his outrage. He didn’t mean any real harm, just wanted to cause some disruption.

  Fortunately, the telltale aroma of the white powder he used helped to identify it—it was baby powder (other eager beavers have even tried flour). The only danger was spilling it on a dark pair of trousers.

  Unfortunately for the sender, it is a federal crime to send something dangerous or threatening (even if the threat is fake) through the US mail, so the FBI was involved. The irate sender was no doubt impressed with the quick response to his mailing—it just wasn’t at all the response he expected.

  TIPS

  Thinking Inside the Box

  When you were a child, you probably enjoyed feeling birthday or holiday gifts to try to guess by weight and shape and size and sound what was inside before you were allowed to open them. Maybe you honed your technique and got good at guessing.

  Identifying a hazardous package before opening it requires a different approach. The United States Post Office has solid advice. The post office notes the following as potential red flags:

  • No return address or ambiguous return address. The sender is perhaps trying to remain anonymous.

  • Misspelled words, badly written/typed address, and/or sent to a title rather than a name. There are always people who can’t spell, who have bad handwriting, or who don’t bother to find out the name of a manager before writing, but coupled with other red flags, these could be clues to trouble.

  • Restrictive markings such as “personal” or “do not X-ray.” May be intended to make sure the package is opened by a specific individual or to slip through normal screening.

  • Envelope sealed with tape or package sealed with excessive amount of tape. If there’s something toxic inside an envelope, one assumes the sender doesn’t wan
t to lick it. Also, the sender might be making sure nothing escapes to be detected in transit.

  • Excess postage. Sender wants to make sure it gets to the intended target.

  • Sent from a foreign country. May be a foreign threat or someone trying to hide from US authorities.

  • Unknown or suspicious powder or other substance on or in the mailing. Anthrax is the best known threat, thanks to the 2001 mailings that killed five people.

  • Strange odor or residue. Again, this may indicate something out of the ordinary inside.

  • Protruding wires.

  And here’s what the post office instructs if you receive a suspicious package:

  • Stop. Don’t handle it.

  • Isolate the package immediately, away from people who can be harmed.

  • Don’t open it, smell it, or taste it. (I hope that last one would go without saying!)

  • Notify a supervisor and activate your company’s emergency plan. (This should be a reminder to make sure your company has such a plan, and that you know what it is.)

  If you suspect the presence of a bomb, or a biological, chemical, or radiologic hazard:

  • Isolate the area immediately.

  • Call 911.

  • Wash your hands with soap and water.

  For more information, go to www.usps.com.

  MEMO TO MANAGEMENT

  Most crackpots are just that—crackpots angry about something looking to make mischief. They’re usually not dangerous. However, it’s in your best interest to guard against the one or two who might represent a legitimate threat. Just as with telephone threats, employees receiving or handling mail and packages should be trained in how to identify and handle a potentially threatening or hazardous envelope or package. The guidelines above are helpful, and you may identify specifics appropriate to the nature of your industry and the type of mail and packages you normally receive.