Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | March 30, 2020 | Worcester Business Journal 19 10) Sense of cause at the heart of the compa- ny. Having a strong sense of why is important to cultivating a culture of teamwork. Only when all members of the team understand why they work in the first place will they truly buy in. 9) Sense of progress. Being the biggest or best at anything is incredibly difficult. It is important to track the wins along the way. Maybe the win is a revenue goal hit for the first time. Maybe it's a new acquisition/merger/referral engine indicating business will grow. Celebrate as often as possible in order to establish a culture of progress. 8) Everything is temporary. "The bad news is nothing lasts forever. The good news is nothing lasts for ever." Teams will experience ups and downs together, but those who expect and plan for downturns and upticks will build a better bond. 7) Work should have meaning. "It's almost Fri- day, I can make it." Work should be enjoyable. and if there is a strong sense of identity, you are much more likely to have an optimistic team. 6) Employees need to be comfortable saying, "I made a mistake," or "I need help." Empower your team to come to you only after they have already been empowered to solve a problem themselves! 5) No lying, hiding, faking. This one is easy. Think of Wells Fargo and the scandal of opening up all of the fake checking accounts. When staff are incentivized solely on one metric, and there is top down ethical fading, bad things happen. 4) Lead by example. When leaders make a choice to put people first, remarkable things hap- pen. Parenting is a good example. Parents work tirelessly to give their children opportunities they themselves never had. A prodigal leader should recognize success is a vector of trust and safety. 3) Build relationships. Remembering details is key. Think of birthdays, anniversaries, loved one's names. When communicating with staff, it's important they understand they belong. 2) Give feedback and recognition. When some- one on the team publishes an article or completes extra coursework, I always make a point to rec- ognize the individual at our next staff meeting. I'm trying to incentivize behavior moving the company in a positive direction, 1) Constructive criticism. Specifically when confronting an employee, I always make a point to separate work performance and character. I make it clear the feedback is work related and has noth- ing to do with their character. That way the staff member understands you care for their personal development as well as meeting goals. K N O W H O W Business face these urgent coronavirus legal issues 10 1: M any of us have had too much lately, especially in industries like restaurants: Downtime. With the coronavirus prompting closures or time off for non-essential personnel, it's a dramatic break from routine. None of us can say for sure what's ahead, but we can use downtime productively in ways that will ultimately benefit us and our careers. Make a succession plan. Just because you cra one, doesn't mean you have to utilize it anytime soon. Creating a plan breaking your role down into specific tasks can easily fall to the bottom of a priority list when things are busy. But such a plan makes it easier when you go to leave your position, and helps you leave a company on good terms. "Basically, [a succession plan] takes your job description, then breaks it down and outlines tasks," writes Sara McCord at eMuse.com – and the more specific the better. For example, "'Plan annual campaigns' becomes 'July: Set dates for upcoming fiscal year, thank volunteers,'" McCord says. If you already have a succession plan? Update it. ey are documents needing to be current to be relevant, she notes. Learn stuff. When things are busy at work, it's easier to push things like online webinars, industry article links and professional-development podcasts into the background. is is a great time to get up to date on developments in your field. "You are making an invest- ment of time that will either help you in your current job or open up future doors," writes Elizabeth Grace Saunders at Harvard Business Review. Attack that inbox. Slow time at work is great for getting organized in general, with email cleanup right there on the list. "Clean up your inbox by following a classic management approach known as 'Do it – Dump it – Delegate it,' Teri Hockett, CEO of online community What's For Work? told Forbes. "You will feel good aer you make sure things are in good order." 1 0 T H I NG S I know about . . . ... Building an awesome culture BY DOUGLAS T. RADIGAN Special to the Worcester Business Journal T he coronavirus pandemic is impacting businesses and public life around the world. As a local response, Bowditch formed an interdisciplinary legal team to assist companies and individuals in the devel- opment and execution of strategies to address this quickly evolving crisis. Layoff vs. furlough? A layoff is a separation of employ- ment for an indefinite or permanent period of time. A furlough is a tem- porary leave of absence implemented by an employer. During the furlough, employees do not need to be paid reg- ular wages, but they are still employed (potentially, an employee may use accrued vacation or other paid time off for income continuation during a furlough). When the business reopens to full strength, furloughed employees will become active again. A furlough is sometimes implement- ed to retain talent and reduce the cost of separation and of future hiring and training. Do I have to pay furloughed employees? If a salaried employee does any work while on furlough, the em- ployer must pay them the equiv- alent of their salary for the entire week. If an hourly employee works while on furlough, the employer must pay them for the time worked. Does family and medical leave apply? Generally, employees are not entitled to take FMLA to stay at home to avoid getting sick. However, as with many employment situations, the worst thing an employer can do is reject imme- diately an unorthodox leave request before understanding the facts. Even in the absence of state or federal protec- tion, an employer's internal policies may extend protection to individuals. When in doubt, the prudent approach is to work with counsel to ensure legal compliance. If employees aren't working, are they entitled to health coverage? You need to check your group health plan document (or certificate of coverage if your plan is fully insured) to deter- mine how long employees who are not actively working may remain covered by your group health plan. Once this period expires, active employee coverage must be terminated from the plan (unless the insurance carrier or self-funded plan sponsor otherwise agrees to temporarily waive applicable eligibility provisions), and a COBRA notice must be sent. If your plan is self-funded and you would like to waive applicable plan eligibility provisions, you should first make sure any stop-loss coverage insurance carriers agree to cover claims relating to partici- pants who would otherwise be ineligible. Will insurance cover my COVID-19 losses? Affected companies will be checking carefully the wording of any contracts and the extent of any available insur- ance. All business lines are potentially impacted and likely to see claims. Policy wording will obviously be the key to whether there is any coverage. e key takeaways are: Do not assume your claim will be denied. Do not make statements concerning the inapplicability of coverage. Review your policy language for coverage and exclusions. Provide timely notices to your insurer and fulfill all conditions of your policies to prevent against a waiver of coverage. Document your damages. Douglas T. Radigan is a partner at Worcester law firm Bowditch & Dewey. Reach him at dradigan@bowditch.com. BY SUSAN SHALHOUB Special to the Worcester Business Journal By Sean T. Lordan Sean T. Lordan is the owner of Concierge Physical Therapy in Sutton. Reach him at drlordan@ conciergephysical therapy.com W W Editor's note: In light of the need to report issues on the coronavirus pandemic, the third part of Worcester attorney Jared A. Fiore's advice series on Dispute Resolution has been delayed to a later issue. W D E A L I N G W I T H D O W N T I M E

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