Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Protect your home while on vacation
Look around the office this month and you'll spy plenty of empty desks. Vacation rules!But while your desk or work site may be safe, your empty house can be an inviting target for thieves and brigands of all stripes, the Insurance Information Institute reminds those heading for a holiday.
Most home burglaries occur in July and August, the popular travel months, according to FBI statistics. U.S. residential burglary losses average $1,400 per home, with more than $1 billion paid out, according to the New York-based institute.
So, to reduce the chance of your post-trip bliss fading into a horrible discovery at home, the institute offers a few tips:
» Make a break-in time consuming. Dead-bolt window and door locks can slow and frustrate a burglar, and often qualify for insurance discounts.
» Keep your home lighted well. Put indoor lights on a timer, and keep exterior lights hard to access.
» Check your door quality. A great lock is useless in a shoddy door. Outside doors should be metal or solid hardwood that is at least 1 34 inches thick.
» Move valuables. Don't leave expensive jewelry in your bedroom, and move critical personal documents with vital data out of your home office or desk. These are the obvious spots we all store such things, and the crooks know it.
» Protect your PC. Turn off your computer and disable your Internet connection. There's no reason to make it so easy for hackers.
Sex-harassment training pays off
Our work environments may be safer from sexual harassment than they were a decade ago, employees in a recent poll said. The reason is that employers have become attuned to training and litigation.Nearly a third of workers said their work is "significantly safer" these days and 49 percent said it was "somewhat safer."
Only 14 percent said there had been no change, according to the survey by Business and Legal Reports, Inc., a compliance publisher based in Old Saybrook, Conn. The company also operates a Web site for human resource professionals.
The July poll had 311 participants.
"Demonstrating that reasonable care was taken to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace is an employer's best defense," said Anne Sundheimer, the company's legal editor. "Sexual harassment training and an effective complaint process will meet this standard and help an employer avoid liability -- or at least limit any damages that may occur."
Companies fear loss of diversity
Rare is the American company not striving to improve the diversity of its workforce in recent years.Yet as the job market improves, nearly half of executives (47 percent) say they fear their companies will see significant departures of women and minority employees.
Only 29 percent of 1,780 senior diversity and human resource executives said women and minority workers are no more or less likely to leave than they were during the recession.
A quarter of the executives said their retention efforts for women and minorities have been ineffective, and almost half described those efforts as only somewhat effective.
The findings are from a survey for J. Howard & Associates, part of Novations Group Inc., a human resource training and consulting firm based in Boston.
"Most had enjoyed a sense of enormous opportunity ahead of them, but then the economy faltered, positions were eliminated, people were let go, and the remaining workers were expected to pick up the slack," said Mike Hyter, J. Howard president and CEO. "The predominant response by women and minorities seems to be a feeling of being trapped, not relief at having survived."
NEW JOBS
» Territorial Savings Bank has appointed two employees to new positions. Anne Segal has been appointed to Kailua branch manager. She worked as an elementary school teacher and account executive in California before joining the company. Gary Kahn has been appointed information security officer at the company's systems department. He previously served as a Bank of Hawaii information security officer.» Castle Resorts & Hotels has appointed Wendi Vasconcellos as leisure sales manager. She will be responsible for the retail travel trade market, kamaaina market and the groups market. She previously served as a Hawaiian Earth Products sales manager.
PROMOTIONS
» Hula Grill Waikiki has appointed its executive team. Chris Colgate has been appointed senior general manager. He has been a part of parent company TS Restaurants since the opening of Duke's Canoe Club Waikiki in 1992. Derek Kessler was appointed restaurant general manager. Mark Kowalkowski was appointed executive chef. David Allaire, TS Restaurants Hawaii's senior vice president, will oversee Hula Grill Waikiki, along with the group's six other restaurants.» Benchmark Hospitality International has appointed Malgorzata Bardzik-Cox as controller of the Turtle Bay Resort. She joined the company in 2002 as assistant controller. She previously served in various positions within the St. Regis Hotel accounting department.
