Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with policy

Is my new tardiness policy fair?

titans13 — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 06:51:33 -0800

I am seeking feedback on the fairness of a new tardiness policy I instituted at my company. I own an IT services firm that also has a retail storefront (the more traditional computer repair shop model). We have had a situation with chronic tardiness, to the point where on a recent Saturday, at three minutes before opening, I was the only one there (whereas four people were scheduled that day). I have now instituted what I believed to be a fair and generous policy, and some don't like it as they say it is too strict. Please read on for the policy... 1-14 minutes late: 2 points
15-29 minutes late: 3 points
30-59 minutes late: 4 points
1 Hour + late: 6 points

With call less than 15 minutes ahead:
1-14 minutes late: 1 points
15-29 minutes late: 2 points
30-59 minutes late: 3 points
1 Hour + late: 5 points

With call 15 minutes or more ahead:
1-14 minutes late: .5 points
15-29 minutes late: 1 points
30-59 minutes late: 2 points
1 Hour + late: 3.5 points

Points are accumulated within any 30-day period. This is not the first through the end of any given month; it is a simple consecutive 30 days.
Consequences within 30 days:
6 points = Verbal warning
8 points = 1 day suspension without pay
10 points = 2 day suspension without pay
12 points = Week suspension without pay

Now...I am not an HR person...I am a tech who evolved into a businessman. I am looking for perspective, potential holes in the policy, and opinions as to it's strictness/fairness. Thanks to all in advance!

Negotiating patient/family rights at an ultrasound facility

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:12:16 -0800

Is there a medical or technical reason an ultrasound facility would specify that only one person can accompany the pregnant person during the ultrasound? (And if it turns out we must follow this policy, how could the third parent observe the ultrasound from the waiting room?) (Anonymous only because we have friends who haven't heard our pregnancy news yet, and I don't want them hearing through internet-grapevines! Soon all will be nicely open for us. :))

I'm one of three people who are having a baby together. (Two of us are the biological parents, but the three of us are the parents -- love each other, live together, are committed to raising the child together.) Of course all of us are equally excited to be there for the ultrasound two weeks from now. But even understanding this, the one admin person we've asked so far (a receptionist, I think) apologetically said their policy is that only one person can accompany the pregnant person inside the room during an ultrasound.

This is a routine ultrasound for a healthy pregnancy. I'm wondering whether that policy is primarily meant to keep lots of family members from crowding into the room. I'm also guessing that at an ultrasound facility in a Northeast U.S. city, there must already have been some precedent for three people all having an equally valid interest in an ultrasound. (What about a surrogate mother plus the two bio-parents, or a lesbian couple who are including their known-donor in the parenting?)

So there two questions here, and I'd love your advice about either:

1) What should be our strategy for reaching, and for talking to, higher-up people at the office, so we can gently persist with this question? Clearly this is only the first of many such questions -- we need to know our rights and how to articulate them before there's any possiblity of an emergency situation (for example, if something went wrong during delivery and the non-bio parent found she suddenly wasn't allowed to be in the room). We're also asking other multi-parent families for advice, but I'm asking here because input from a more general audience (especially any medical people?) could be very useful.

2) If we really can't all be in the room this time: how can the third person, who would be there sitting in the waiting room, observe the ultrasound? (Could we at least record it with our own video camera, for later viewing? [I'm guessing live transmission of the video -- say if we brought one laptop inside the room and pointed its camera at the screen, transmitting to another laptop in the waiting room -- would not be allowed at the facility?])

What to do with forgotten flash drives?

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:04:00 -0800

For those of you who work in computer labs, what is your policy for dealing with flash drives that have been forgotten by a student? I'm a teacher at a small college in the computer department. Three or four flash drives are forgotten by someone in our computer labs every week. The lab supervisor puts these drives on a plate near his desk, which is accessible to anyone walking by. I do know of at least one case where a drive was found, and the next day, it was gone (and it wasn't picked up by the owner).

Shouldn't these drives be treated with the same care as someone's wallet or purse? Could we be liable if someone is a victim of identity theft because their drive was easily taken from the lost-and-found? If we look at the contents of a drive in an effort to figure out who it belongs to, what happens if a student blames us for anything from deleting their homework file to stealing their passwords?

There is no campus-wide policy on this, as far as I know. The lab supervisor is really a good guy in general (and has been there forever and is well-loved), but I don't think he really gets how valuable these drives can be to someone who has all their work (and possibly passwords and other sensitive information) saved on it. Or how valuable they can be to someone who wants easy access to that kind of information.

So, what do you do in your lab? Do you lock drives up? Do you plug the drive in and look through the contents in order to figure who the owner is? Do you make an effort to contact the owner? Is there a sane policy or procedure we could put in place that doesn't cause too much extra work for the lab staff and also protects the drives and ourselves?

Apologies for the length and anonymity, but I don't have tenure yet, so I'd like to not associate my name with potential conflicts with long-time beloved employees. If you want to email me directly, use forgetfulstudents@gmail.com.

What can my health insurance company do with this information?

Anonymous — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:04:28 -0800

I want to consult a doctor about some possible health problems, but I don't want my insurance company to know about it. What do I do? For the last three months I have been insured through my very small employer's expensive plan with United Healthcare. Before joining my employer's plan I carried about seven months of short-term insurance, and previous to that I was uninsured.

In a few months I will be able to switch my health insurance to Blue Cross Blue Shield under my partner's very large employer's affordable and comprehensive group coverage. Meanwhile, United Healthcare is vigilantly documenting my medical history.

I'm suffering stomach problems, for which I've recently seen a doctor under my current plan. Because I was afraid of alerting United Healthcare to possible pre-existing conditions, I did not tell the doctor that a) I have a family history of kidney disease and b) I was told last year that I might want a screening for pre-diabetes.

It is time for my follow-up appointment, and the treatment my doctor prescribed has not done much good. In the interest of solving my stomach problem, I would like to be honest with her about my possible medical problems, but I don't want United Healthcare to have any reason to deny my claims, and I also don't want to have any problems establishing coverage with Blue Cross Blue Shield in a few months.

Should I be worried about what United Healthcare might do with this information? To clarify: I don't think either kidney disease or diabetes is an imminent health danger. However, they could be relevant to my stomach problem; I can suffer through until it's time to switch insurers, if necessary, but I'd really like to get started solving this.

Are shops allowed to add a fee for paying by credit card instead of cash?

wastelands — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:39:19 -0800

Does it go against Visa / MasterCard / etc. policy for a retail store, such as a restaurant or coffee shop, to add a charge to your order if you use credit rather than paying by cash? While it's incredibly common, I have heard that it goes against policy, and the store could actually risk punitive action from the credit card company if they were found out. True?

Your thoughts on privacy certification?

jakubsnm — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:50:47 -0800

When considering a sites privacy certification would it bother you if it was from eTrust or do you much prefer TRUSTe? or would you be happy with either?

Health insurance for all? Is that a good thing? What can I do to help?

zeek321 — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:59:45 -0800

So, I saw Howard Dean on the Colbert Report last night. Please help me with some specific action steps regarding health care and the future of the USA. How can I learn more about the options on the table (and the options not on the table) and how they might affect individuals (of all levels of income and varieties of occupation) as well as the general economic health of the country? Whether or not I arrive at any personal conclusions, what can I do to help the best option prevail?

I've been vaguely aware of the situation as it's been unfolding, and I've been selfishly hoping that things will work out in my personal favor. But I've never wanted it as bad as last night. And, if I'm actually going to educate myself and take action, then I want my actions to benefit the largest number of people possible, with a long view to the future of the country.

Clarification: Please don't argue for or against different things in your answers. How can I figure out the different options and do research on them myself? Is there anything besides "write my congresspeople" that I can do to help? (Especially if I, in the most likely case, side with some sort of government health insurance?)

Show me evidence that laws alter the normative landscape of society.

atmosphere — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 20:22:59 -0800

I am looking for evidence / examples to support the concept that laws affect the moral / cultural landscape of society. I am studying the morality of euthanasia at the moment, and am investigating the concept that when principals are enshrined in law, they can, over time, alter the values / socially accepted norms of the society the law applies to. Specifically, the legalization of active voluntary euthanasia could change the role / perception of death in society in a detrimental manner.

I am looking for anything to do with the role laws play in the development of the moral / cultural landscape of society. Although my question is not necessarily specific to euthanasia, it would definitely be extra useful if you have euthanasia specific suggestions.

I am looking for both philosophical thought experiments or discussions as well as possibly empirical data, if it exists. Thanks in advance for your help hivemind.

Writings about pairs of adjacent neighborhoods?

mirepoix — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 19:49:38 -0800

Urban Planning/Theory Filter: I am looking for writings, preferably available online, about the relationships of adjacent neighborhoods over time. I'm interested in the symbiotic (or antagonistic, or whatever) relationships of adjoining neighborhoods, especially when change is added to the mix.

I've heard about "triage" in a planning/policy context, where cities decide to leave certain under-served communities for dead and save others that are closer geographically to more affluent or gentrified parts of town -- those "up and coming" "frontier" neighborhoods that the creative class has probably staked some claim in already.

Also interested in case studies about how certain areas deal successfully with integrating the needs and resources of nearby communities into their Specific Plans.

So, stuff like that, or articles about more organic relationships between neighborhoods... not really looking for personal anecdotes as much as help finding academic literature or good journalism. Thanks!

Help me find good interactive maps

janet lynn — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 07:16:53 -0800

What interactive maps have you seen that do a particularly good job illustrating an issue? I'm thinking about trying to put one together to illustrate a project I've been working on, which is loosely about policy changes, and I can't believe no one's done this before. This, from Newsweek, kinda gets it ... but I'm looking for other ideas.

Policy monitoring for families with kids with special needs

greta simone — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 10:22:49 -0800

In search of website, blogs, etc that keep up with federal and state (specifically NC) policies that affect families with children with developmental and physical disabilities? I'm interning for an agency that provides support to families with children with special needs (developmental/intellectual/physical/behavioral/etc disabilities), and I am looking for a way to keep the staff up-to-date on current policies affecting the population we serve. I'm hoping to simply find a few comprehensive sites and blogs to whose RSS feeds we can subscribe and review when necessary. This agency serves all of North Carolina, so NC-specific sites would also be helpful. Thanks in advance!

Dine and Punishment

fucker — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 03:34:28 -0800

What happens if you eat at a restaurant and then can't pay the bill? I'm looking for experienced answers from people that know better, not conjectures. Let's say you're at a restaurant, and eat a big meal, but when the time comes you realize you forgot your wallet. In what ways will the restaurant respond to this? Will they call the police? Will they trust you to leave and "bring the money back", with zero real assurances you will return? Will they make you wash dishes?

This seems like it would be a common occurrence, but some friends and I were stumped about what would happen. The restaurant seems to be at the mercy of the patron.

Having the police come and escort away a patron seems like it would really have a negative effect on the image of the restaurant to other diners, especially in higher end restaurants that would incur enough of a loss from the meal cost to warrant such measures. On the other hand it seems strange to me to think that they would just let someone leave on the honor system for $50-$150. And what if the patron says that they just can't afford to pay?

MeFites with restaurant experience please share with me how you dealt with these situations, or were supposed to deal with them. In what circumstances did you ever rely on the police? (e.g. only when people intentionally try and exit the door without paying, or even if they tell you they are unable to pay)

Patrons are encouraged to share their stories too. How did they deal with you when the bill came, and you couldn't cut it?

Do I accept a Greenpeace Internship? But first, $4000 More Student Debt!

Risiko — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 19:58:50 -0800

I'm an Environmental Policy & Planning Major (3rd year). I've been applying to internships over the past weeks for Spring and Summer positions. Great news: I've already been accepted to Greenpeace's "Organizing Term" and I have two other positions I will soon hear a yes/no on for Spring. Bad News: The Greenpeace Organizing Term program will cost me $4000. The program itself is an intensive mix of activities, virtually on a full-time basis (for 2 months of summer, out of 3), including classroom trainings, expeditions to other states (as well as another country for meeting with other international activists), media trainings, and some readings. All of it is included with the cost (including flight/transport/food for a week). What to do? (More in the extended explanation): My Dilemma: I want to be a part of this program for several reasons. But the most salient ones are: (1) This seems like it would be excellent experience, whether I choose to go on a career of political advocacy or otherwise -- environmental consulting, or non-profit office-type work, or government agency type work, or what have you. I know that my public communication skills will undoubtedly improve through the program. By undertaking the program itself, it shows initiative and passion. The not only improves my skillset in a personal sense, but it enhances my job prospects post-graduation too. Moreoever, while only 15 people are accepted for the program each summer, "hundreds" (I'm told) have applied. Might there be a prestige factor that helps my future prospects? Keep in mind, I plan on relying on internships more than most because my GPA is relatively mediocre (I'm working hard to change that though) (2) But also importantly is that I know I'll learn a lot from the experience, and will therefore very likely enjoy it, in general. And, if I find that I don't like it, I will have learned something very useful about myself also, and plan for my future accordingly! (3) Frankly, I have a lot of passion for environmental protection, especially the more I've study it. My generation and even progressively more so, future generations, will have to work harder to protect what is here for us.

On the other hand, I don't want to be a part of the program for the following reason: I don't have the money. Nor do my parents. Trust me, I've pleaded. Moreover, I have almost nothing to my name (despite that I am a sprendthrift compared with most of my peers.) I've worked part-time for part of my college experience. My student debt scares me but my parents have pledged do cut it down dramatically from where it will stand, so I am hopeful. So they're doing all they reasonably can already. Nor can extended family help, as far as I'm aware, but I plan to find out anyway for certain, through 'fundraising' that Greenpeace suggests financially-strapped acceptees to undertake. I've never independently fundraised before, but it'll be a learning opportunity. I'm hoping to scrounge $500 (with wide error margins) that way. Maybe I could do more, who knows -- but my relatives are middle class, and they're getting hit like everybody is now. I can also work part-time from March-May, so that'll net me $1000 more. Beyond that, I've been looking for scholarships through my University and otherwise. The program doesn't qualify for what's available, and there isn't much available right now anyway (says my University Counselor). So there is a big gap. I'm still exploring options, but that leaves me at a shortfall.

So.

I thought some sager advice, over and above my parent's significant uneasiness about it, might be out there.

Which path do you suggest?

Design + policy + communications: what colour is my parachute?

Weng — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 19:34:58 -0800

Graphic Designers / Commercial Artists, Social Policy People, PR/Communications Professionals: where do your professions overlap? I'm currently working my way through the What Colour is Your Parachute exercises, and have had some interesting and unexpected results. Where I'm a bit stuck is finding the "overlap" between particular fields of interest.

Can anyone suggest roles where the above-mentioned fields overlap? Bonus points if you can explain how to get there!

The only one I can come up with, is an in-house communications officer, who also designs posters/pamphlets etc, for some kind of non-profit organisation or policy advocacy group. Which, by the way, would be ideal. But since I have little practical experience - though lots of interest - in these fields, I'm assuming there must be many more options?

(Am I being too literal in doing these exercises?? Any advice welcome!)

Debate tournament tips

LSK — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 10:29:38 -0800

How to win a high-level policy debate tournament? I've asked about policy debate here before. Since then, I have managed to qualify for Chicago's city debate championship at the varsity level. What advice do you have to win?

Help me recession-proof my future, post-college life.

Muffpub — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:49:22 -0800

I'm 21 years old, about to graduate college, and the recession is freaking me out. I know there's no right or wrong answer to which course my life should take, but I need help focusing on realistic skills and places to live that I should be considering. I'm about to graduate from a major Ivy-level university with a degree in English and Political Science. I have no idea what I want to do with my life and will be dealing with ~$35k in debt, so I want to try to spend the next few years living frugally and carefully contemplating what I want to study in grad school before I make the plunge.

The problem is that I feel like all of my ideas of what my post-college life would look like have been soured by the recession. I would love virtually nothing more than to live in Brooklyn and try my hand at policy, academia, or nonprofits/social justice - but as far as the research I've done is concerned, the NYC job/rental markets are so incredibly tight it might as well be a death wish.

Recently I've tried to expand my search to other places, like Chicago, Boston, and DC, but even in these areas I feel like the cost of living stacked up against jobs I would want that actually pay something is daunting.

I've been trying to think about ways to make my predicament easier by
1 - Trying to cast a wider net geographically - looking at cheaper, faster-growing economies such as Austin, TX and parts of North Carolina for more, better-paying jobs and cheaper rents;
2 - Casting a wider net in terms of what jobs I' could apply to - but here I'm a bit clueless;
3 - Looking for skills that I could attempt to teach myself that might give me a competitive advantage. (I have some basic Spanish and HTML/CSS under my belt that could, maybe, give me a head start.)

I know this question is almost impossibly broad, but are these worthwhile strategies?

Is the premise of my fears valid - that life in a major city like New York, which is what I want more than anything, is unfeasible in this economy?

Where can I find a decent, urban-style quality of life - liberal, gay friendly, nightlife, art/music scene, public transit - with a realistic rental and job market? Is it all too much to ask?

Am I being overly pessimistic considering that I *did* go to a good school and made decent grades - or is it prudent to be this cautious?

Other factors to consider: I do *not* want to live with my parents. I'd really like to not stray any farther from the East Coast than North Carolina to to the south, Chicago to the west, or Montreal to the north. Programs abroad such as the Peace Corps, teaching English in Asia, etc interest me, but I worry that the economic crisis will just make life even harder abroad than it is here. Also I have EU citizenship and could theoretically move and work anywhere there, but again, I worry that life will be even harder there.

I'm sorry to ask so many different questions in one, but any guidance from anyone who has graduated from college and felt completely overwhelmed/demoralized by grim economic conditions would be really helpful. Trying to figure out just how bad this recession is/will be is like staring into an abyss, and it makes planning and predicting my future, and how hard things may get, very difficult. Please, feel free to share your stories, perspectives, advice on what you would do in my situation, anything at all.

How effective is the government at regulating the economy?

meta.mark — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 21:44:00 -0800

With the assumption that the government is ineffective at influencing the economy through monetary/fiscal policy and also economic bailouts and packages, what evidence exists? What are some specific examples of how monetary/fiscal policy and economic bailouts/packages are ineffective at influencing the U.S. economy?

Party On! The finer points of term life insurance policies

brandman — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 06:24:15 -0800

Life-Insurance-Filter (again): There have been some good threads in the past on understanding/buying life insurance, but I wanted to get a bit more specific this time around. To supplement my current coverage, I've decided to buy a term policy (possibly renewable), the duration and amount of which will fit my situation. What I wanted to get some insight on are the finer points of these policies. That is, if there are specific "fine print" items to look for (or conversely, to look out for), I'd like to know what those are.

Of course, it's not just the fine print I'm interested in - I'll be evaluating the overall value of the package, based on coverage, price, rating/health of the company (!), etc. Just curious about any additional differentiators I should consider that might influence my overall decision. Thanks!

"If you can just get your mind together..."

TheSecretDecoderRing — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 22:29:56 -0800

With all the talk surrounding Sarah Palin's apparent relative lack of foreign policy knowledge and experience, just how important have those factors been historically when it comes to governors serving as president or VP? I'll trust that MeFi can provide some details of past administrations without things getting into a partisan squabble over the current race:

Even just going back to recent history, four of the last five presidents had only served as governors prior to winning election (while all of their VPs had served in Washington). What were their respective backgrounds when it came to foreign policy, and how did it end up playing out during their terms?

All I've heard on the matter during panel discussions on the news lately was a brief mention of (Bill) Clinton serving as chair of the National Governors Association, along with the fact that governors generally oversee their respective National Guard units.

How much are non-Washington candidates typically versed in world affairs prior to the start of their campaigns? Is it just expected that they'd do some heavy-duty "cramming" on such matters during the campaign and the early part of their term, while relying on the backgrounds of their running mates in the meantime?

McCain vs Obama website

paulinsanjuan — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:27:08 -0800

Website that compares McCain and Obama's policies in a non-biased way with references/sources?

I give good brief, baby.

By The Grace of God — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 04:04:14 -0800

How do I give good briefings? I've got an ongoing opportunity to write some briefings for policymakers. I'd love any tips, tricks and guidelines that have served you well in giving good brief!

I wrote one and sent it in Weds. and the big cheese is reading it today... it's 7 pages long and distills the background of a situation, governmental responses to it at various levels, what various agencies want the cheese to do, and what I think the cheese should do in the context of what's good politics.

Should I annotate and cite and footnote everything like a uni paper? Should I appendix the big fat documents and websites I used and minutes of meetings I arranged and what not to the briefing? Should I be shorter? Longer?

Any tricks in terms of approach/presentation to make my recommendations more persuasive?

Anything I'm not thinking of?

How to Improve My Grad School Chances

davidstandaford — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 16:35:35 -0800

Is there anything I can do to help myself get into grad school (PhD, political science/international relate) between now and January? I'm working on my grad school applications and I'm wondering if there is anything I can be doing over the next six months that might help me get into a good program.

I graduated from college three years ago and spent the last two years working on a college campus and this year I'm in a foreign country doing a one year study program (both unrelated to what I would be doing in grad school).

One of my thoughts was to start a blog about something I'm interested in concentrating on in a grad program (Sierra Leone) and writing about it for the next six months. Would grad school admissions committees consider something like that a plus?

Is there anything else I can be doing that would make me seem like a stronger candidate? Any info or advice would be a big help. Thanks!

Tell me what to read so I can understand international relations.

dismas — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:13:41 -0800

I'm looking for a book that can summarize/explain different schools of thought in international relations/foreign policy. I read a lot of articles about foreign policy and international relations, but I have only a very vague understanding of what people are talking about when they say certain politicians seem to have realist leanings on foreign policy, for example, but I don't really know anything beyond a very shallow understanding. Ideally, I would hope for a book that would have (comparative) explanations (or maybe even Blair-reader-type articles from different theorists) for a lot of different schools of thought regarding American foreign policy and international relations so I can understand the theoretical underpinnings of both mainstream and perhaps more critical or radical schools of thought. Any book that will help me understand these things would be fantastic, however.

If anyone can recommend journal articles or anything along those lines, too, that'd be great. I'm a student and have access to a great library, so I can probably get whatever it is you recommend.

Thanks!

Best conferences for technology law and policy?

Malad — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 10:19:54 -0800

What are the most interesting conferences related to technology/Internet law or policy? You can include things that are tangentially related but would still be very helpful or cool to attend for someone interested in this area (e.g. Defcon).

The future of government

baggymp — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 01:35:32 -0800

How should government change the way it provides services in response to the technological revolution happening around us? I'm giving a speech to 500 civil servants on Monday. It's working title is Government 2.0 - yeah I know, it's a bit hackneyed.

Peculiarly, the event might just help shape future government policy in the UK. So I want get it right.

So far I'm touching on:

1. The hive mind as a force for good
2. Freeing up data to the open source community
3. New ways of consulting with information communities

This and more. Can you help me? All ideas welcome.