Emballages Prvost was founded in 1980 by its current president and CEO, Michel Prvost, who set himself

Emballages Prévost was founded in 1980 by its current president and CEO, Michel Prévost, who set himself the goal of always managing the company the way a good parent would manage a family. The company was able to carve out a specialized niche for itself producing packaging for the pharmaceutical industry. It now has a workforce of 115, composed of 95 production employees, 10 employees in the field, and 10 employees in management and administration.

Initially, the head of finance and accounting, Paul Demers, was responsible for the company’s HR because Mr. Prévost has never felt the need to hire an HR specialist. Although Paul Demers is an extremely thorough and disciplined manager, he has no interest in HR tasks. As a result, the firm’s executive secretary, Sophie Dumouchel, has been in charge of HR for the last seven years. She is an independent, career-oriented, cheerful, and enthusiastic person who has always given senior management the impression that she was on top of her job. Michel Prévost has recently been concerned about the handling of confidential information. He has received a number of formal complaints from key employees who say they have witnessed other employees disclosing confidential information. After a brief inquiry, Mr. Prévost has become convinced that the problem stems from Sophie Dumouchel. She appears to have been using her position to manipulate her coworkers. As well, there are claims that she has sometimes disclosed highly confidential information about some employees and started certain rumours. Everyone seems to be afraid of her and wants to be in her good books. When questioned on the matter, Ms. Dumouchel categorically denied everything and said that these accusations were due to the fact that some of her coworkers were jealous of her because of her more privileged position. Mr. Prévost has not found sufficient proof to accuse Sophie or anyone else of disclosing confidential information. Michel Prévost has never had any problems of this kind before and is now asking himself some serious questions about the company’s responsibility in managing its HR records. He remembers that you are a management consultant for small and medium enterprises and sit on a hospital board of directors with him. He thus decides to get in touch with you about the situation. You offer to help him. 

Questions 

1. The firm does not have a policy on privacy or the management of confidential information. Develop one. This site on workplace privacy will be helpful: http://www.cippic.ca/ workplace-privacy.

2. Using the questions in Figure 13.7, prepare for a meeting with Ms. Dumouchel.

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CONSIDERATIONS IN DISCIPLINARY INVESTIGATIONS 1. In very specific terms, what is the offence charged? • Is management sure it fully understands the charge against the employee? Was the employee terminated for insubordination, or did the employee merely refuse a request by management? 2. Did the employee know he or she was doing something wrong? • What rule or provision was violated? • How would the employee know of the existence of the rule? Was the employee warned of the consequence? 3. Is the employee guilty? What are the sources of facts? • Is there direct or only indirect evidence of guilt? • Has anyone talked to the employee to hear his or her side of the situation? 4. Are there extenuating circumstances? • Were conflicting orders given by different supervisors? • Does anybody have reason to want to "get" this employee? • Was the employee provoked by a manager or another employee? 5. Has the rule been uniformly enforced? • Have all managers applied this rule consistently? • What punishment have previous offenders received? • Were any other employees involved in this offence? 6. Is the offence related to the workplace? • Is there evidence that the offence hurt the organization? • Is management making a moral judgment or a busi- ness judgment? 7. What is the employee's past work record? • How many years of service has the employee given the organization? • How many years or months has the employee held the present job? • What is the employee's personnel record as a whole, especially his or her disciplinary record? 2019 Cengage Learning