by Nick Fishman

I just found a great article in QSR Magazine: “How Restaurant Owners Can Avoid Violence in the Workplace“. The advice given by Greenberg Traurig attorney Todd Wozniak is not only great for those in the restaurant business, but for the marketplace in general. Some of the tips he offers are as follows:

Diligent hiring and supervision: Conduct a criminal background check on applicants. Be certain, however, that the scope of the background check on the employee does not run against laws that protect employees’ privacy, such as the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, and that the interview not include impermissible questions about past drug and alcohol use and psychiatric conditions which may violate the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Create a threat management team: Members can include professionals from human resources, the legal department, outside counsel, upper management, security, employee assistance program representatives, front line supervisors, and representative employees.

Assess vulnerabilities on a regular basis: Starting places for security audits include workers’ compensation records, employee disciplinary files, OSHA reports, security reports, and personnel files.

Adopt violence prevention policies: At all times, the policy should be sensitive to and protect the confidentiality of victims. In addition, the policy should include referrals to local resources for victims of violence.

Read the full story here . . .

This entry was posted on Monday, April 7th, 2008 at 9:24 am and is filed under Articles, Workplace Violence. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.