Food-Service-Manual-for-Health-Care-Institutions

Food Service Manual for Health Care Institutions
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within the environment for clues and then take steps to improve the situation. An employee
attitude survey or a culture audit (described in Chapter 4) would be a useful tool in this respect.
The rate of absenteeism can be determined by using another simple formula. The rate of
absenteeism equals the number of workdays lost per pay period divided by the average number
of employees, multiplied by the number of days worked, and then multiplied by 100. Or:
Absenteeism rate (%) =
Number of workdays lost per pay period
Average number of employees × number of days worked × 100
Unusual levels of absenteeism among employees also may signal potentially serious personal
problems that should be investigated. The most frequent reason given for missing work
is illness, but illness may be an excuse to cover up serious chronic problems such as alcoholism,
substance abuse, or debilitating physical or mental conditions. If a manager suspects that an
employee’s attendance and work performance are adversely affected by such problems, he or
she should refer the employee to the organization’s employee assistance program if one is available.
An employee assistance program is a formal program that provides employees with counseling
or treatment for problems such as alcoholism, gambling, or stress. The employee
assistance program may be an in-house or an out-of-house program provided by the organization’s
contract with a vendor to provide assistance. Regardless whether it is in-house or out-ofhouse,
the program should provide service to assist the employee. The program needs to
include the following:
• Goals: short- and long-term goals that are expected to be achieved by employees and
employer
• Professional staffing: the organization should be staffed by professional licensed persons
• Written purpose: of program, employee eligibility, role, and responsibility of personnel
• Confidentiality: confidential records are maintained
• Legal requirements: all legal requirements are known and followed
The manager should never attempt to diagnose a suspected problem, openly accuse an
employee, or give advice on sensitive subjects such as alcoholism or chemical dependency. If the
organization has no employee assistance program, the manager should strongly recommend
that the employee seek qualified professional assistance to identify a possible problem.
Compensation and Benefits Administration
The human resource department is responsible for establishing and maintaining an organization’s
compensation and benefits program. An equitable and competitive program is essential
to the organization’s ability to attract and retain competent and qualified employees. The compensation
system is the mechanism by which the human resource department sets salary and
wage rates for new employees, approves increases for current employees, maintains and
updates wage and salary schedules and job classification schedules, authorizes position
changes, and authorizes the creation of new positions.
The employee benefits component of the compensation program includes a number of traditional
“perks” as well as more innovative ones. Traditional benefits commonly include vacation
and holiday pay, health insurance, life insurance, short-term and long-term disability insurance,
and pension plans. More and more organizations are offering dental coverage (including orthodontics),
vision coverage, profit sharing, and gain sharing. Limited coverage for holistic or alternative
healing methods is not unheard of in some institutions.
Managers outside the human resource department play a role in compensation administration
when they recommend salary or wage adjustments for individual employees, when they
recommend changes in the pay scale for positions under their management, and when they recommend
salaries or wages for new or newly promoted employees.