Gunstock – Another Day, Another Right to Know. I’m Beginning to See Why Commissioner Doug Lambert Shut Down the Investigations

I’ve been writing a few (ahem!) Right To Know demands lately and starting to get some of the results (i.e., “The Responsive Records”). What I’m finding is that for each one put in, the Responsive Records returned to me just keep handing me more questions.

Sidenote: That is, except for the Drone/UAV usage one – hey, you always end up with some dead ends as not all tips prove out. It is what it is.

I’ll add to that “more questions” thought – sometimes, even for the most mundane document demands, some things show up and make you think “er, really?” or “something’s missing here”.  That’s exactly what I found when I demanded one of the most mundane documents that a govt agency/non-profit/practice/LLC/company generally has:

HR Manual

Yes, Human Resources explanations. For most people, the only “touchpoint” they have with it is when they “onboard” (join a company) during their first couple of days of employment.  Many are just copies of millions of others with very slight differences between them all.  Sure, there are always slight differences between them all but, in general, they do one thing: set expectations for employee behavior.

That is if that’s all you are looking for.

But that’s not what I do – I read such documents like I’m reading code (am a retired software engineer) as in:

“Will it do what it is supposed to do? where are the holes? Where can this go awry? Can this section go haywire given the proper (rather, IMproper) inputs?  What are the designer’s assumptions – and how can they kick them back in their faces? How robust is this and can it adapt to sub-optimal conditions?”

In short, I can be a pain in the patootie. So, can you see the things I found out from this Right To Know (minus my usual boilerplate):

From: “Skip” <Skip@granitegrok.com>
To: “Jade L. Wood” <JWood@gunstockcommissioners.org>; “dstrang@gunstockcommissioners.org” <dstrang@gunstockcommissioners.org>; “Douglas Lambert” <dlambert@gunstockcommissioners.org>; Dconroy@gunstockcommissioners.org
Sent: 8/29/2022 3:10:03 PM
Subject: RSA 91A demand – HR Manual(s) and signature pages

Commissioners,

Please find, attached to this email, a Right To Know demand for Gunstock Mountain Resort’s Human Resources manual(s). Failing that there may not be a single compendium of such materials, I would be looking for such materials that ordinarily would be part of a single manual. Further, for all salaried employees, I am looking for the signature pages of salaried employees, denoting acceptance of and having read, that manual or analogous materials.

Kindest regards,

-Skip

The “Payload”:

This request is for 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.

And here was the returning email:

—— Original Message ——
From: “Rebecca LaPense” <RLaPense@gunstock.com>
To: “Skip@GraniteGrok.com” <Skip@granitegrok.com>; “Tom Day” <TDay@gunstock.com>; “dlambert@gunstockcommissioners.org” <dlambert@gunstockcommissioners.org>
Sent: 9/1/2022 4:50:34 PM
Subject: RSA 91A demand – HR Manual(s) and signature pages

I’ve removed a couple of next “bits” for their security:

Gunstock Mountain Resort ShareFile
Expires September 8, 2022

Good afternoon,

This email is in response to your RSA 91A request dated 08/29/22.

 

The Gunstock Employee Handbook is a public document and can be found on our website, on the Employment page. The direct link is here for anyone to view:

https://www.gunstock.com/upload/photos/page_150_gmr-ee-handbook-rev-11.30.21__1.pdf

At the time of hire, all employees are provided with an offer letter, which they must sign before their first day of work, that details their compensation and benefits. Included with the offer letter are links to the Employee Handbook and a copy of the Benefit Summary which details applicable insurance benefits and employee discounts. I have attached a copy of the Benefit Summary document for PY 21/22 for year-round/salaried employees.

We do not collect signatures acknowledging receipt of the employee handbook.

____________________________________________________
Rebecca LaPense, SHRM-SCP

Director of Human Resources
Direct: 603-737-4305
719 Cherry Valley Road, Gilford, NH 03249

Here are the two manuals. Hover over them and you can start to scroll through the documents.

HR Manual:

and the Benefits Manual:

So I noticed a few things: if you read them, what did you see?