2024 Jan-Feb RETA Breeze

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Volume XLX The Shade Tree Mechanic

PRE-NUPS! Well I’ve heard of me some pre-nups. Heck them movie stars sign them all the time. Them NBA players wish they had signed them. And my cousin Jeb hopes he finds a girl rich enough to ask him to sign one someday. When you’re getting married, they may be great or they may be bad. I just don’t rightly know. But do you have a work pre-nup? I do know that some employers don’t believe in pre-nups with their employees. I had to do some digging to figure out what that means. I think it means the employer is not making any guarantees that you’ll have a job tomorrow. Which is strange, because I’m pretty sure they want you to guarantee you’re coming to work tomorrow, and probably the next day. The employer expects the refrigeration professional to guarantee that the technician will try to keep the system running. The employer wants the technician to guarantee that the technician will try to make sure the system runs efficiently and safely. I think the employer expects the employee to stay when a neighboring company offers an extra dime per hour. I think the employer expects a lot of guarantees. By the way, the employer has a right to expect all of these things and more.

Some employers expect employees to sign non-compete agreements. Some expect employees to sign vesting agree ments, or employment contracts with severe penalties for early termination. Some employers expect that you reimburse them for your training should you leave the company. I think all of these could be called pre-nups. So, do employees and employers have pre-nups? I think so. I think an employee should expect their employer to keep them as an employee as long as the employee is productive. I think an employee should expect the employer to try to help them be successful. I think an employee should expect that their employer won’t discriminate against them because of their sex, age, religion, height, the car they drive, or the color of their hair. I think the employee should expect to be treated with respect. I think that a good productive employee should expect a job as long as their employer is capable of providing one. I think employers should expect good employees. Over a hundred years ago, David Brown spoke of the employee, employer, customer triumvirate, that’d be a three-legged milk stool. It’s as true today as it was then. In order for any company to be successful they need

employees, employees need jobs. Jobs provide money for employees to buy what they need, which probably includes their employer’s goods or services. By selling their goods or services, the employer can pay their employees. It all works together. It’s the “circle of business life”. When the pre-nups between employers and employees are mutually beneficial, we can accomplish great things. So I believe in pre-nups. I hope you do too! The shade tree grows outside of the little town of Broughton, Ohio. Where everyone is always welcome, the beer is always cold, and something is always needin fixin.

20 RETA.com