Articles Posted in Human Resources

There was a time not so long ago when people made a very clear distinction between the workplace and home. It was understood that an employee left his or her personal affairs at the doorstep of the office building, and did not allow these issues to interfere with work. It is unfortunate but in today’s society personal problems have a habit of taking attention that should be spent on the business at hand. Human resources directors are very much aware of the distractions and try to find ways to minimize the problem. A voluntary benefit that provides for legal services can be of great assistance.

It’s the Small Things That Nag

Major legal battles rarely are the cause of employee inattention, but smaller issues will be. The legal system is full of papers to be processed and forms to be completed. There are also innumerable procedures in order to get services from a government agency. These all take up a lot of time and often an employee will make phone calls from the office on matters regarding visitation rights, estates, or even minor traffic violations. A group legal plan that provides access to experienced attorneys permits the work to be done by a third party. Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services has the Personal Legal Protector Plan to help employees with these irritating details. It is a voluntary benefit plan that allows access to very professional attorneys. These experts of the law can cut through a lot of administrative red tape, draft letters needed to be sent to various agencies, and review contracts that may have binding clauses. The attorneys of a Countrywide group legal plan will help prepare small claims court cases for those traffic violations that arise, and help an employee with administrative forms that need to be completed for court.

The basic requirement of any group legal plan is to provide competent legal assistance to any plan member who is in need of it. The ability to review contracts, give advice on small claims courts cases, and to write simple wills and powers of attorney are what any human resources director has a right to expect from such a voluntary benefit. That being said, there still is value which has to be added to make any plan offering legal services worthwhile. It is the customer service that is truly the heart and soul of the benefit.

The Additional Services That Mean so Much

Legal protection from unethical business is possible

The phrase “caveat emptor” is the judicial warning given to consumers in the business world. That the buyer must beware is a recommendation for caution, but it shouldn’t mean that a person has to be on their guard at all times. Consumer protection law is meant to protect the unsuspecting from the shady business practices of others. A challenge arises when a person is unfamiliar with the process of finding a complaint seeking redress. This can cause a great deal of frustration, and a voluntary benefit for legal services provided by a company can reduce the anxiety.

Walking through a Consumer Maze

Believe it or not government agencies are not designed to cause headaches. These public sector organizations are intended to provide service and help citizens solve problems. Unfortunately, in an effort to assure fairness and proper administration there are a lot of regulations and procedures that must be followed. A person dealing with a government agency can begin to feel frustrated with all the paperwork. An employer can help by offering a voluntary benefit that gives the right kind of legal services, including help with government agencies.

Complex Things Made Easier

It is often the language that is so bewildering. People usually don’t have to deal with formal legalese on a daily basis at work. They get frustrated when they try to understand the language of the forms, and agonize over how to interpret them. The confusion can become a distraction that takes time away from business, which is something management definitely does not want to have happen. Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services has a group legal plan that provides access to experienced attorneys. The Personal Legal Protector Plan allows a plan member to take advantage of the expertise these lawyers have with the various forms and procedures of government agency. The voluntary benefit permits an unlimited number of phone calls to the attorney to ask questions about a particular agency’s paperwork process. The attorneys have dealt with the government before and they are aware of what to do to keep the process moving.

Everyone wants to be able to unwind after a hard day of work. Home is the place where a tired person wants to relax but that’s not what always happens. There may be problems on the home front that involve legal action of various types. This causes an awful lot of stress as the castle is being assaulted by various issues that may have arisen unexpectedly. The result is an employee with frayed nerves and full of anxiety about domestic problems. A worker sensitive employer understands such troubles and has a group legal plan in place to help.

A Mountain of Worry

Contracts have always been a part of the legal/social landscape. These are agreements that are entered into by parties with the understanding that all the clauses are to be adhered to and followed. Breach of contract can result in very messy problems that are time-consuming and full of stress. An employer certainly has no control over the type of legal agreements employees sign in their private lives. Unfortunately, the distraction that a contract dispute produces can carry over into the office hours where productive work is important. To avoid having employees spend time on outside problems when they should be working on company projects, an employer may want to consider a voluntary benefit that provides legal services.

The Review Is Important

Valuable employees often center their entire lives on their families. It is the reason for coming to work and striving so hard to get promotions and pay raises. Highly productive employees will openly confess that they do everything for the sake of their children and loved ones. It shouldn’t be a surprise when family problems become legal or administrative conundrums that an employee will forget all about corporate goals and objectives. If the family is in trouble, that important associate will literally drop everything he or she is doing to concentrate on matters of the hearth. Family disputes and emergencies are primary cause of presenteeism in the workplace. What is needed is a voluntary benefit that will allow for the kind of legal services necessary to resolve unexpected concerns.

Domestic Flash Points

Holiday absenteeism is something that human resources departments have come to expect. December is the time of year when people use up as much of their vacation time as possible, because “use it or lose it” vacation policies will not allow vacation days to carry over to the next year. This results in a few empty offices and cubicles during the week. Using the vacation time is legitimate absenteeism, but other reasons for absenteeism have to be controlled. The last thing a business needs is to have all of their important employees out of the office for extended periods at the end of the year.

The Year End Problems

Government agencies are meant to provide service to taxpayers. Within the mission statements and authorizing legislation of these departments are mandates to correct problems, and keep the paper flow moving. The primary difficulty that a person has with government agencies is the meandering red tape that these bureaucracies can create. Agencies sometimes generate a labyrinth of policies and procedures. All of these have to be followed carefully or else the individual seeking assistance either gets bogged down in the process or has to start all over again. Getting the right help from a government agency can be time-consuming. Minutes and even hours that ought to be spent concentrating on daily work might be used up in communicating with slow-moving bureaucracy. Rather than have employees distracted, human resources will consider means to remove the bureaucratic roadblocks and one such solution is a group legal plan that promotes legal services.

The Red Tape Madness

It is no exaggeration when it comes to legal matters that the devil is in the details. It is the small things such as a clause in a contract or an administrative procedure that was overlooked that causes some of the worst problems. An employee inexperienced in the nuances of the law can quickly be trapped in a maze of legal trivia. Things that may seem very insignificant to that person can stop the legal process in its tracks, requiring considerable time and effort to get started again. It is no wonder that many people during working hours are preoccupied with minor legal concerns which unexpectedly got out of control. A good employee paid benefit for legal services can take care of minor legal procedures as well as major issues.

A Few of the Small Things