Zero Tolerance policy has to be carefully studied and applied only if needed

2. A brief about what is a zero
tolerance in generally
speaking :
Zero tolerance imposes automatic punishment for infractions of a stated rule, with the
intention of eliminating undesirable conduct. Zero-tolerance policies forbid persons in
positions of authority from exercising discretion or changing punishments to fit the
circumstances subjectively; they are required to impose a pre-determined punishment
regardless of individual culpability, extenuating circumstances, or past history. This pre-
determined punishment need not be severe, but it is always meted out.”Wikipedia”.
My understanding for this policy that it means no mistakes to be made , no infractions ,
no offenses , no ……………….. , simply “ Nothing but that we allow”

3. History of Zero Tolerance
During the late 1960s and the early 70s, some states lowered
their drinking age from 21 to 18. In a lot of these states, it
was shown that there was an increase in fatal car accidents
for teenagers affected by these laws.
Because of these findings, Congress set a national minimum
drinking age of 21 in 1984. States that did not adopt this 21
as the minimum drinking age were at risk of losing a
portion of their federal highway construction funds from
the federal government. By 1988, all states had adopted
this minimum drinking age.
The concept for the zero tolerance law is that since it is illegal
for people under the age of 21 to drink alcoholic beverages,
it should also be illegal for them to operate a motor vehicle
with any alcohol in their system.

4. History of Zero
Tolerance(cntd)
While there is no official definition of the term zero tolerance, generally the term means that a harsh predefined
mandatory consequence is applied to a violation of school rules without regard to the ―seriousness of the
behavior, mitigating circumstances, or the situational contextǁ (APA, 2006). Zero tolerance is incompatible with
the principle that the punishment must fit the crime, and that the severity of the crime and the context in which it
occurred should be considered in determining the punishment.
Zero tolerance policies grew out of the illicit drug interdiction programs of the federal and state governments in
the late 1970s and 1980s where vehicles, vessels and airplanes were confiscated when even small amounts of illicit
drugs were found (Skiba & Knesting, 2001).
Zero tolerance rhetoric became widespread as school officials and community leaders expressed outrage at gang
shootings and national media reports about school shootings, even though school crime rates were stable or
declining by the time these policies were implemented.
The Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994 (GFSA), which required that schools have policies to expel for a calendar year
any student who brings a firearm to school, provided further impetus to zero tolerance policies. Subsequent
changes in many state laws and local school district regulations broadened the GFSA focus on firearms to apply to
many other kinds of weapons.
However, the same act does provide for the chief administering officer of the local educational agency ―to modify
the one year expulsion requirement for students on a case–by–case basisǁ (GFSA, 2005).
Zero tolerance policies have generally involved harsh disciplinary consequences such as long-term suspension or
expulsion for violations involving drugs, alcohol, aggression (such as fighting) and having weapons, but have also
been applied to minor or non-violent violations of rules such as tardiness and disorderly conduct.
source: Reece L. Peterson Ph.D., Univ. of Nebraska-Lincoln & Brian Schoonover Ph.D., St. Johns County, FL .

5. What does it mean when it
comes to companies .
As our main concern in this policy is what
does it mean as adopted policy in some
companies , then we are to explain the
meaning , the purposes , the implementation
tools , the mechanism , the targeted people
by such policy , who likes and who does not ,
the consequences .

6. legal definition for Zero
Tolerance policy
The policy of applying laws or penalties to
even minor infringements of a code in order
to reinforce its overall importance and
enhance deterrence,("Zero Tolerance legal definition of
Zero Tolerance. Zero Tolerance synonyms by the Free Online Law
Dictionary.." Legal Dictionary. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2011.
<http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Zero).

7. Main features in regard to
ZT policy
It is all about implementing the companies
literal policies (customers are our concern and keep them
satisfied).
It is also about being clear that we don’t allow
mistakes , infractions(No smoking , Do not leave the
office during work hours) .
The company is not home (Do not dress as home )
The companies equipments are red lines and
only for official use (Do not make personal calls using
companies phones , Do not use the Internet to chat with your
friends).

8. Goals of Zero Tolerance
operational excellence by “follow the roles and the
procedures” . Example: a company that produce high quality product
with well-educated employees can avoid the deficits in the final products by
using such policy .
Productivity : by using every single work’s minute for
work and produce , maximize the productivity will
result also in an economy of scale .
Gaining more customers and keep them longer : well
trained employees who are adopting and
implementing zero tolerance know that the
customer comes first so they deal with him/her
nicely and have them feel good this also will lead to
two things

9. Continued :
A. competitive advantage
B. Good Image for the company
Avoid some unexpected problems or threats
might happen (carrying guns , possessing
drugs or drinking al-kohol during the work
hours.
The whole policy could likely and potentially
contribute positives at the long-term goals

10. Assessment of internal
environment
The internal environment here is the company
environment which contains the following
players : employees at all levels , the company’s
equipments , the constitution or work
resolution,the company’s high level managers .

12. The initial assessment of
the internal environment
The way they have used to enter the office was kind of disrespect to
one of the company’s employees
They took him immediately without identifying themselves and
without mentioning anything about the reason behind that action
The women he met when he got down to the company’s parking he
has never laid his eyes on her and he did not recognize her as a HR
manager , how come that an employee does not the HR manager.
The HR manager told him that he will receive a letter that includes
the policies that he has violated , the question here why they did not
let him know from the first violation he has done and why did not
they give him a warnings before he got that point .

13. Critical variables
The internal policy and the firm’s constitution , how clear is it and when any
adjustments or added points take place how can the company assure and ensure that
the employees have known and realized the changes have been made .
The punishment steps , the laid down rules and laws regarding to the consequences
of violating the policies or doing wrongs .
The transparency
The justice and the rights of the employees to know
The productivity and efficiency of the employees
The nature of the wrongs and who decides the wrongs and the rights
Who judge ?
How the termination process take place without pre-alarm
The intranet set up
The IT specialists
The top level management follow-up on their employees
Continuous contact between the different levels in the firm
Totality or comprehensive regimes so there is no justice or even making judgement

14. Alternative solution
To our case there might be an alternative solution the company could
have followed to deal with Simon’s case
A. They should have warned the employee the first time he made wrong
or violated the rules
B. They should have made regular mail reminder that indicates all the
prohibited action
C. They should have kept continued touch with their employees and
weekly or monthly meetings in order to keep the employees informed
with the updates
D. They should have made a clear and unambiguous zero tolerance , they
could have re-written that policy in more understandable and
determined , more specific details
E. They should not have generalized the incident of that husband who
entered the loopy with pistol calling on his wife after she asked for
divorced.
F. The company also should have taken into the consideration many
other factors when it comes to the firing

15. Continued
A. The nature of the offense
B. The frequency of the offense by the same employee
C. The employee professional profile
D. The extended impact of the offense
E. The social impact of firing
F. The cost-benefit of firing
G. The company’s reputation
H. The JUSTICE implementation
I. The internal impact of firing good loyalist employee , how the other
employee will perceive that action

16. Optimal solutions
An adjusted policy with desired outcomes might be
as following :
1.It is called adjusted zero-tolerance policy
2.To be clearly written
3.To be more detailed
4.To be well-organized in terms of implementation
5.To be explained and re-minded to the employees by the simple tools
6.The technician offenses and information system related classified offenses are to
be determined by professional detectives
7.There should be always a second chance
8.It has to let the other side’s story to be heard
9.The people who are in-charge of this policy should be qualitatively and
quantitatively be skilled to make judgments and the final decision should be
carefully taken after following all the prior steps
10. It also might have what I call (Productivity-Firing ) ratio analysis , because we are
talking about firms not schools .

17. Implementation of the
optimal solution
How to implement these solutions
Well-qualified HR staff
Periodic meetings with the employees
Deepening the loyalty by motives-bundle
Printing prohibited-list and putting it in seeable places
Encourage the employees to implement all the rules
Differentiate between the disaster and the incident
It should focus on preventing the wrongs not on punishing the
people and this message should also be clearly delivered to the
employees .
Blocking the internet for personal uses so the employees know that
they cannot use it