What's in this punch?

NOTE: This post was originally published in 2013 and has been updated with new information. 

The holiday season is upon us. Many employers are planning office parties or allowing employees to plan parties. You’ve heard the stories of bars being liable for their patrons after they leave the establishment or parents who have allowed parties to take place at their homes. These same liabilities are being applied to employers who serve alcohol at office parties.

Party on!

A 2015 survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource Managers (SHRM) found that approximately 59 percent of companies having holiday parties plan to serve alcohol. Less than half of those plan on regulating alcohol consumption by employees. While the parties can serve as an employee reward, team building, or morale booster when alcohol is involved they can also set the scene for inappropriate behavior and/or injuries. The aftermath of which employers have to deal with or could be held liable.

Many employers seek to hold the functions at offsite locations to further enhance or show commitment to the employee event. The location doesn't release the employer of liability and may sometimes encourage inappropriate behavior by employees as the offsite location and alcohol consumption lower inhibitions.

In the most notable case to date, a California Appellate court ruled in August of 2013 that an employer was liable when an employee caused a fatal accident after becoming intoxicated at the employer sponsored party. The ruling was based on vicarious liability and the employer’s responsibility for their employee’s actions. Not all courts may rule the same in all situations, but the precedent has been set.

Why take the chance with your livelihood?

The possibility of legal action should not dampen the festivities or cause employers to cancel parties. Employers have to be aware of the issues and plan accordingly. A little preparation and foresight now may save a lot of money and heartache later.

When planning the party, consider the need to serve alcohol. If alcohol is served manage the consumption by setting limits. Do not pay for alcohol at offsite locations. Arrange alternative transportation for those who do consume.

Review company policies, update as needed, and publish. Ensure employees are aware and reminded of policies regarding alcohol consumption, harassment, and behavior. Make sure social media policies are up to date and include information about the posting of photographs/videos and are sensitive to privacy concerns.

Every effort you make will help later if you were to be sued.

Scam websites

 Note: This post was originally published on November 27, 2016 and has been updated with new information.

On top of all the safety concerns we have for shopping in the real world, you have to be careful online as well.  Not only from identity theft issues but bogus, price too good to be true deals, on fake websites and fake mobile apps.

You use to be able to look at a website and have your spider sense tingle warning that this doesn’t look quite right. But now, at first glance, it’s hard to pick out a thrown together site. Site building skills and packages are such that pretty much anyone can construct a site that looks like a multi billion dollar corporation is at the other end. When in reality it’s a small time operation or worse an out of country company that is selling bogus products or collecting personal data.

Scam Busting

One quick way to tell if the site is not quite on the up and up is to take a tour and make note of the grammar. One thing the scammers haven’t quite grasped is writing in grammatically correct English. Sites that do not pay attention to simple grammatical structure probably don’t have your best interest in mind. We’re not talking about a typo here or their or misusing there,  they’re, or their, you'll see serious grammar issues that scream no quality control. But don’t use this as your only method.

There are several “detectors” that can be found online that you enter the questionable website address and the detector gives you a report on the site, including a score, location, technical data, owner, and contact information. One such site is Scamadviser.com. [This is just one of many and no endorsements are being given.] This site seemed to provide the most detailed information that online users could use.

If you’re not sure of a site, run it through a “scam busting site”, you should be able to get enough laymen details to make a determination if the site in question is someone you want to provide your credit card.

Typosquatting

In the early days of the Internet, criminals would identify the most popular retailing websites and then figure out the commonly mistyped spellings of the retailer’s names. They create their own sites under the misspelled names. Users always misspelled Amazon, or example. Type in Amason, and you are directed to the scammers’ site. Companies figured this out and began buying up the domain names associated with the misspellings.

The technique is called typosquatting. The practice diminished but is picking up popularity again. It’s hard to think of or even buy every possible spelling combination, so criminals are able to slip past the gatekeepers. The fraudulent sites are very close facsimiles to the real sites. Once a user interacts, malware is downloaded onto the users computer and/or information is stolen.

Mobile devices are targeted as well through fake retail apps sold in smartphone stores. The apps mimic legitimate retailers, but they install malware that steal identity, financial information, and sometimes install ransomware (If you ever want to see your files again August 8, 2016) The RiskIQ cybersecurity company estimates that 1 in 10 Black Friday apps were fraudulent. The biggest app stores fall victim to fake apps. Retail apps may be safer downloaded from the retailers website.

  

Another oldie but goodie is fake shipping notices sent via in email. They are always prevalent but become more so when criminals know that there will be an increase in online shopping/shipping. The notices can look real and appear as they are from a retailer from which you recently purchased. With the flurry of shopping everyone does at this time of year, it’s easy for fake notices to lost in all the emails received. Know what you purchased and from whom, monitor the confirmations and shipping. Most companies will send out a confirmation email, a product shipped email, and possibly a follow up.  Be on guard for anything more.

It’s hard to say stick with nationally named brands and big retailers. Lots of small businesses make their living through online sales and often have good deals especially on unique items. Just as if you were shopping in the real world, you wouldn’t buy from a questionable character off the street, so do some research before you buy online. And watch out for too good to be true deals, especially on hard to find items. Use common sense.  Check reviews. Do your homework.

Be safe. Enjoy the thrill of the hunt.

See our blog archive for other posts relating to shopping safety:

Gift cards-Less than you bargained for? December 2012

Psssst...Need some speakers? December 2015

Fighting for your holiday dollar: Halloween v Christmas

Shopping in a big box hardware store in early October I had the pleasure of viewing Halloween decorations on one side of the aisle and Christmas on the other. I say pleasure, because instead of fighting it, I try to ignore the retail world’s impatience to be the first out of the gate with the various holidays. In early October, one can tweak their Halloween decorations while perusing the new offerings for Christmas. If someone needs replacement bulbs at least the store is meeting the needs of its customers.

Christmas in July 

Every year the rush to be the first retailer for any particular holiday gets earlier and earlier. Can’t say when it started but it seems like in the last five or ten years Christmas comes earlier. Soon Christmas in July won’t be a fun summer celebration but the real thing.

The holidays themselves can’t be moved (Or can they?) Halloween and Christmas have been set dates since ancient times. Doubtful a special interest lobby is going to get Congress to change the dates, but you never can tell.  The commercialism of the holidays is the variable. It comes down to being the first to grab the customer. Black Friday sales used to start at normal business hours on the day after Thanksgiving. Can’t move the Friday after Thanksgiving but retailers can open their doors whenever they want. The sales started to creep earlier, beginning at six AM, four AM, then midnight. Then the “Black Friday” sales started in the evening hours on Thanksgiving then the morning of Thanksgiving. It starts with one major retailer, then someone else will open earlier, then another and another. Until the whole holiday weekend is sales, sales, sales.

Most shoppers feel that Black Friday has encroached too much on Thanksgiving, starting too soon. But those feelings didn’t keep them away from computers. While 2015 brick and mortar Black Friday sales were down approximately 9%, online sales jumped 14%. (Variety of sources)

Impatience 

Is it the impatience of the consumers or the retailers? What is driving the need to get the next holiday merchandise on the shelves before the present holiday has arrived?  Although consumers will grab anything on sale, the drive for early holiday shopping seems to be the need for retailers to capture their market share. As individual retailers look at their bottom line the next big promotion is driven by current sales. Didn’t do well with back to school? Get out the Halloween stock. Don’t usually sell that much candy or ghoulish decorations? Clear more shelves for Christmas. If a retailer knows that they don’t do particularly well during a certain holiday they’ll try to start snagging shoppers for the next.

Rarely do retailers advertise Christmas items on “sale”. They just appear on the shelves next to costumes and Jack O’ Lanterns. Buyers have little product comparison and probably feel they are getting a good deal buying their supplies two months early.  Too much might be too much. In 2015, Target took some media heat when it ran commercials in October that had combined Halloween/Christmas themes.  

It’s like ready the Sunday comics on Saturday, it’s just not done. Stores can stock the shelves as early as they want, I’ll at least wait for the holiday month to start looking.

Holiday hiring

AP Photo/The Tennessean, John Partipilo

While shopping for Halloween candy there were little hints of the approaching Christmas shopping season. Decorations were starting to go up and products dressed in their Christmas best were hitting the shelves. As Thanksgiving approaches, the stores are in their full decorative gala, sales are being announced and the poor mailman has begun carrying around the extra poundage of catalogs.

In addition to decorations and stocking the shelves, retailers have begun adding thousands to the holiday workforce. Although most of the holiday help will be temporary, businesses should not divert from their hiring policies, nor take shortcuts on the quality of employee or background screening.

Retailers have to consider their obligations in keeping customers safe while protecting their business. The National Labor Relations Board has ruled in favor of customers that were injured on a retailer’s property, when it was found that security cameras were not properly monitored. The National Retail Federation released a survey in 2011 that illustrates the importance of employee background screenings in keeping customers safe. “Nearly all retailers (97%) utilize background screening in some form during the hiring process. Background screenings help retailers ensure the safety of both shoppers and employees”.

Hopefully, your business will thrive during the holiday season. You shouldn’t jeopardize profits by sloppy hiring practices.

Have a prosperous and safe holiday shopping season.

If your own a local business, don’t forget to promote Small Business Saturday, which is November 24^th. Shoppers-Please support your local small businesses.