Avoid a Time Bomb: Sexual HarassmentWritten by Judith Lindenberger
Over 53 charges of sexual harassment are filed with Equal Employment Opportunity Commission every business day. What have you done to prevent sexual harassment in your workplace?Among myriad subjects now commonly addressed in employee training is harassment. Sexual harassment, as well as age, disability and race discrimination, are among types of harassment employees experience in workplace. But it wasn't until early 1990s that sexual harassment and discrimination training became a higher priority for companies large and small. During Clarence Thomas Supreme Court confirmation hearings in 1991, sexual harassment was brought to forefront when Thomas was accused of harassing an employee, Anita Hill. This was a wake-up call for companies. Harassment and discrimination of all types can hurt businesses. According to U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), in past 10 years, average jury verdict in a case of sexual harassment was $250,000, not including legal fees, court costs and punitive damages, making it most expensive harassment complaint. With such significant jury verdicts, companies have to take issue seriously. In years since Thomas case, companies, especially large companies, have been preparing more effectively to defend themselves against claims of sexual and other types of harassment in workplace.
| | Engineer-to-Order ERP Leader Encompix Selected by Integrated GroupWritten by Thomas Cutler
Encompix (www.encompix.com) added another ETO (Engineer-to-Order) manufacturer to its client roster this week in Toronto, Canada. The Integrated Group (www.igcompanies.com) is a collection of diverse companies whose flagship company, ID Merchandising, Inc.; it will be primary user of Encompix software. ID Merchandising (idmerchandising.com) specializes in high-end point of purchase display units. They do most of work for Land Rover and BMW for point of purchase displays as well as other large companies. They are particularly proud of their ability to integrate several different media options into a single display. ID is very similar to Programmed Products, ESP and Roy Metals, other key Encompix accounts in how they will process data.ID has a terrific need for a new software application right now and began looking for software just three months ago. They spent significant time with Lilly-Visual (now Infor) and determined that application would not be a fit because of heavy reliance on MRP concepts requiring part numbers. They spent time with JD Edwards seeing if that environment could work and they discovered that it was more difficult to use than Lilly. They got on web and typed "Project Based Manufacturing" and up came Encompix. Total time of sale: 6 days from first face-to-face meeting.
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