Saturday, June 10, 2006
House rules: before you let your people work at home, find out what you're liable for—and cover your bases
TWENTY MILLION AMERICANS AVOID traffic and water cooler gossip several days a week, choosing instead to do their work at home. Armed with a computer, phone and fax, they find there's no need to be present at the office every day. Indeed, contrary to the image of telecommuters in pajamas catching up on the soaps, many employers find that telecommuting employees are not only happier, but also more efficient and productive.
If some of your employees work from home or you're thinking of allowing such an arrangement, be sure your discussions include issues of safety and liability. On the one hand, after a media firestorm in January 2000, the U.S. Labor Department withdrew an advisory letter claiming that, under OSHA, employers were responsible for the safety of all work environments, including the home. "We believe that the Occupational Safety and Health Act does not apply to an employee's house or furnishings," said Charles Jeffress, then assistant secretary of labor, in Congressional testimony. "OSHA will not hold employers liable for work activities in employees' home offices." Nor will OSHA be out inspecting home offices, unless there's been a severe injury or death related to the telework.
On the other hand, an employee who develops carpal tunnel syndrome or back problems from working in a poorly designed home office may well file a workers' compensation claim. And if the employee's teenager destroys the hard drive on a company-owned computer, you'll want a policy on who's responsible for company property in the home.
You can address all these issues in a telework agreement that covers office arrangements, hours, responsibilities and who pays for what. The agreement should also address safety, security of company property and proprietary information, workers' compensation and insurance. The arrangements can make all the difference between being liable for workers' comp on injuries in a given room during stated hours and being responsible for anything that happens to an employee anywhere at home 24 hours a day.
Consider making an initial visit to the telecommuter's home to see what the office is like and whether the furniture is reasonably ergonomic. Are there obvious dangers, such as a computer cord stretched across the route to the kitchen? Is the employee expecting to be able to work full time from home while caring for small children?
Join hands: pair an inventor's idea with your business know-how, and get ready for success
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION: The Speed Rollers paint applicator system targets professional painting contractors. Featuring two rollers, the system is fed by an airless paint pump that dispenses paint onto the top roller. Because the applicator system eliminates the need to dip into a roller pan and also minimizes the so-called "back roll," it's four to five times faster than a traditional roller system. While Donegan didn't invent Speed Rollers, he was able to launch his company after signing a licensing deal with Mike Puczkowski, the product's inventor.
The Speed Rollers system retails for $349 and is sold through major paint retailers such as Sherwin-Williams.
STARTUP: About $150,000, which was spent to launch the product at the Painting and Decorating Contractors of America trade show in 2004. Costs included marketing materials, booth rental, product development, patents and to laser-cut prototypes.
THE CHALLENGE: How does an entrepreneur who knows an inventor with a great idea decide whether or not the product is worth pursuing?
Inventors are often great at creating innovative products, but they're often lousy at turning their inventions into businesses. Not surprisingly, inventors represent a big opportunity for entrepreneurs. Taking an inventor's product to market--which is what Shawn Donegan did with the Speed Rollers system--can mean big profits for those willing to carefully research a product's viability before spending too much money.
Step to Success
RECOGNIZE A GOOD IDEA. Donegan had been involved in managing commercial properties and painting contractors for several years. "I knew that painting contractors were four to five times faster with spray paint than they were with rollers," he says. "But on many jobs, the effort to cover up other surfaces was so substantial, it was just as fast to use rollers. So I was blown away with [Puczkowski's] invention--it was as fast as or faster than spray painting, didn't require substantial effort to protect other areas, and eliminated spray painting's loss of 20 to 30 percent of the paint."
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