Every company I have ever worked for, except for the very smallest startup, has had Human Resources (“HR”) manuals or materials that cover LOTS of areas that outline what employers expect from their employees and what is being offered to those employees as part of their remuneration in exchange for their time, talent, and work ethic. Even for the small Daycare center that TMEW and I owned until she became ill, I crafted an HR manual. I figured that if large corporations had put the time into creating their own (and, let’s be honest, legally covering their posteriors in the case that things went sideways when employees that should be there), then I could do the same thing. It actually was a great exercise in determining the how’s and why’s of running our micro-sized business.
So, I am quite sure that Gunstock Mountain Resort has such a manual or materials that, if combined, would form a virtual HR manual. I would like to see that information.
Another thing that most well-run companies do is to make sure that EVERY employee knows what is in that manual – by including a Signature page that says:
- I have received this HR manual.
- I have READ this HR manual.
It’s almost immaterial if the latter has occurred or not – legally, a signature says that an employee has. CYA and sometimes, that can be very important. It was to us and there was a time that an employee decided to bring a case to Unemployment Security. By having things written out in advance and being able to demonstrate that she had signed our HR manual, she lost her case.
Sure, there are lots of other reasons for having an HR manual with the best one being “everybody knows how the game is to be played”. I want to know how GMR’s game is played.
So, here is my RSA 91A for exactly that information:
Pursuant to the Right to Know Law (RSA. 91-A:4 (I) ), I am demanding access, within 5 business days, to the below enumerated governmental records. Otherwise, if this demand cannot be fulfilled within that mandated window per RSA 91-A, please advise when the Responsive Records will be available.
This request is the Gunstock Mountain Resort’s Human Resources (“HR”) manual(s) and/or such assorted materials not combined into a single manual that is given to new hires or ongoing employees on a regular basis that outlines employee expectations and regulations (e.g., such as but not excluding others: job descriptions, behavior codes, certification requirements, pay scales, grievances, benefit descriptions, et al.). This would include:
- An actual manual/booklet that condenses all such HR directives/regulations
- If no single HR manual exists, then all other materials that would be considered of an HR nature that would be given to employees.
Additionally, if such is a part of Gunstock Mountain Resort’s HR procedures, for the period of August 29, 2020, to August 29, 2022, copies of the signed signature pages that signify that GMR salaried employees:
- Have received such a Gunstock Mountain Resort HR manual and/or HR materials.
- Have read such materials they have received.
Per RSA 91-A:4 IV(c): If you deny any portion of this request, please cite the specific exemption used to justify the denial to make each record, or part thereof, unavailable for inspection along with a brief explanation of how the exemption applies to the information withheld.
As you are aware, in 2016, the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled that a governmental body in possession of records is required to produce them in electronic media using standard common file formats: Green v. SAU #55, 168 N.H. 796, 801 (2016). Unless there is some reason that it is not reasonably practical to produce such, explain why it is not practical to comply.
Please also note, per RSA 91-A:4 III, III-a, and III-b, you are required to maintain the safety and accessibility of such responsive records. This also includes such responsive records (e.g., emails) which may have been deleted from respective Inboxes but are still available on the applicable email server or in your / email host backup system(s).
Please let me know when these records will be sent to me for inspection. You may email the responsive records to Skip@GraniteGrok.com. If the volume turns out to be substantial, I have already set up a Dropbox folder to use in uploading those responsive records.
Partial release of demanded information is allowable (e.g. some, but not all materials, as it may take a bit of time to gather and deliver). If there is a substantial amount of hardcopy materials, I will come to review them at an agreed-upon time and place.
Thank you for your lawful attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Skip Murphy
GraniteGrok.com