They say that HR doesn't impact the bottom line. I say that a well run HR keeps the bottom line from going lower.

1. The concept that HR doesn’t add
to the bottom line is basically flawed.
HR keeps the bottom line from
reaching a lower bottom.

2. Law suit settlements
 Whistle-blowing tobacco settlement $206
billion

3. Sex Harassment Lawsuits
 Morgan Stanley $40M
 Mitsubishi $34M
 Astra $9.85M
 Ford Motor Co. $7.75M
 Long Prairie Packing Co. $1.9M
 Yellow Freight Systems $1.05M
 Chevrolet dealership $500K
 Bechtel Corp. $90K

4. Law suits - race
 S&Z Tool & Die $1M
 R.R. Donnelly & Sons $610K
 Las Vegas cabinet maker $600K
 FedEx $500K + EEOC continual oversight
 Home Depot will pay $5.5 million to
current and former employees, as well as
significant injunctive relief.

5. Pay related law suits
 Merrill Lynch $37 million
 Caribou Coffee Co. $2.7 million
 Passport Services $306K
 $22.4 Million FLSA Settlement for contract
janitors (Fair Labor Standards Act)
 Federal Law Enforcement Officers
Association Prevails in $261 Million FLSA
Settlement

6. Wrongful Termination Settlements
 Prill v. Peerless Tube Co. $700K
 Kluzcyk v. Tropicana $971K
 Fortune 500 Personal Products Company
$600K plus stock options and other
benefits
 Property Management Company $200K
 Automobile Dealership $300K

7. OSHA Fines
 W. Virginia metal manufacturer $288K

8. Saks Pays for Age Bias
 11/21/2008 By Business and Legal Reports, Inc. A Miami
federal jury awarded more than $600,000 to two female sales
associates who claimed that their former employer, Saks Fifth
Avenue, moved them to the “back room” because they were
“old.”
 According to a report in the South Florida Business Journal,
the two women, who had worked for Saks for 14 and 18
years, said that Saks was trying to push them out of their jobs.
In their view, the store would not allow them to represent
lucrative manufacturers’ clothing lines and gave those
coveted assignments to younger employees. The women said
that Saks ultimately fired them for offering the same discounts
on merchandise that other employees were permitted to
offer.The $600,000 jury award represents lost wages and
benefits, punitive damages, and compensation for mental
anguish, loss of dignity, and intangible injuries.

9. Restaurant Employees Receive Back Wages
3/24/2009
 The operators of three Florida Asian-style buffet
restaurants recently agreed to pay back wages of
$233,234 to 55 low-wage employees following an
investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage
and Hour Division.
 According to a report in the Fort Lauderdale Westside
Gazette, Labor Department investigators found that the
restaurants, New China Buffet of Lake Worth, Kamado’s
Japanese Seafood Buffet of Pembroke Pines, and
Dragon Gourmet Buffet of Plantation, had violated the
minimum wage, overtime, and recordkeeping provisions
of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The employees worked
as waitstaff, bus staff, cooks and dishwashers. Twelve
New China Buffet employees will receive $97,231; 18
Kamado’s employees will receive $58,849, and 25
Dragon Gourmet employees will receive $77,154.

10. 11th Circuit: $35 Million Judgment
for Managers Affirmed
 1/9/2009 The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently
ruled that a chain of discount stores willfully violated the Fair
Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by classifying employees as
retail store managers in an effort to deny them overtime pay.
Family Dollar Stores is a nationwide retailer that operates
over 6,000 discount stores that sell a wide assortment of
products. A class of 1,424 store managers sued Family Dollar
for unpaid overtime wages under the FLSA. The district court
jury determined that Family Dollar failed to prove that the
plaintiffs were exempt executive employees. The district court
awarded the plaintiffs roughly $17.78 million in overtime
wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages as a result
of the jury’s finding of “willfulness.” Family Dollar appealed on
a number of grounds.
 The 11th Circuit affirmed.

11. Employer Jailed for Comp
Violations
 5/29/2007 By Business and Legal Reports, Inc. Donald
Robert Estlund, the owner of Don Estlunds Tree Service of
Englewood, is facing a charge of operating without workers
compensation insurance, Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex
Sink recently announced. Estlund admitted to operating for
eight years without the state-mandated coverage, until an
employee, Bryan Aicher, suffered a catastrophic injury when
his left arm and hand were crushed by a falling 12-foot section
of tree. Aicher incurred $255,759 in medical expenses. State
investigators said that because Estlund had not obtained
coverage, Aicher was solely responsible for all injury-related
bills. Estlund was arrested and booked into the Sarasota
County Jail. If convicted, he could be held responsible for all
expenses that would have been covered by the workers
compensation insurance, including Aichers medical bills,
rehabilitation expenses, and loss of wages.

12. Miscellaneous costs/fees
 Civil rights violations $300K if more than
500 employees
 HIPPA discrimination up to $250K
 Absenteeism can cost $$$
 Turnover and churn can cost $$$
 Unhappy employees can bring Unions
 Unhappy employees are not productive
employees

13. Joint Responsibility
 HR has to train managers in cost
prevention techniques
 Pay laws
 Discrimination laws
 OSHA compliance
 Once trained, HR and managers must
work together to head off costs that lower
the bottom line.

14. How do we avoid these costs?
 Regulatory Compliance
 Pay & overtime laws
 Anti-discrimination laws (ever evolving)
 Remove the glass ceiling
 Promote/recruit minorities/women to continuing higher
level positions
 Include HR in strategic planning
 Learn the potential consequences of planned
management actions before they are taken
 Treat Employees with Respect
 Tap employee knowledge to become more
efficient

15. Steven R. Freedman
www.TampaBayHR.com
Steve_Freedman@hotmail.com
www.LinkedIn.com/in/SteveFreedman007