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Assignment 1: Good Grocers, Inc.

Note: The company mentioned herein is merely a hypothetical organization with characteristics developed to enable students to respond to the assignment. You may create and / or make all necessary assumptions needed for the completion of this assignment.

After Good Grocers, Inc. expanded its organic produce section and adopted a "buy local" policy, sales increased. The Virginia-based chain expanded its retail locations from seven to twelve (7 to 12) over the last three (3) years.

As the Assistant Human Resources Manager, your job is to advise store managers about legal and personnel matters. The leadership at Good Grocers, Inc. considers you to be a legally astute manager, who consults with the corporation's attorney, as necessary. The corporation's leadership has tasked you with managing two (2) situations have come across your desk. Please respond with support that is backed by the law.

Write a three to four (3-4) page paper which addresses the two (2) situations from two (2) store managers.

Situation 1

Last week, my produce manager reported the following incident:

As I came out from the bakery, I saw a woman lying on the floor of the produce department. Her husband started yelling at me, saying, "She slipped on a banana peel and fell. My wife is the anchorwoman for NEWSNOW, and we are going to sue you!"

She didn't look hurt, but I called 911 and filed an incident report that contained the facts of the situation. When viewing the area, I did, in fact, see a banana peel on the floor, but it was still yellow and lying on top of a ribbed rubber mat. The woman in question was wearing five-inch high heels. But I wasn't sure what to say, other than the woman would be hearing from us.

Explain whether this situation is best handled by litigation or by a particular form of alternative dispute resolution.
Based on how you would handle this situation, either through litigation or a particular form of alternative dispute resolution, outline the key next steps involved in seeking a resolution. Justify your response.
Situation 2

Last week, my bakery manager was short an employee over Mother's Day weekend when the bakery is always busy. To make up for being shorthanded, the bakery manager called in Ms. Greene, an independent contractor. Generally, Ms. Greene comes in on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights between 6 to 9 p.m. just to decorate cakes; she has her own bakery business. We furnish all of her equipment, and we pay her by the cake.

Ms. Greene worked eight (8) hours on Saturday and another eight (8) hours on Sunday over Mother's Day weekend. We paid her $15.00 per hour. On the following Monday when Ms. Greene came in, she told me that she wanted to receive the same benefits as the other Good Grocers part-time employees, such as paid time off and employee discounts. Ms. Greene asserted that she really is a part-time employee who deserves the usual employee benefits.

3. Determine whether Ms. Greene is an independent contractor or a part-time employee. Provide a rationale for your response.

4. Explain the reasoning supporting whether or not Ms. Greene should receive the same benefits as part-time employees.