Home Concepts Employee Manual

Attire:

• Professional but comfortable, we are in very high end homes and want to portray a clean, professional appearance
• Wear HC collared shirts when in a finished home
• HC T-shirts/Hoodie/Jacket for construction sites

Conduct:

• Friendly, personal, professional at all times, be aware of your surroundings and your company and watch your language.

Work Ethic:

• Be on time, especially if you’ve told a client you will be there at a certain time
  • Your day starts at 8:30 at the job, ends at 4:30 at the job
• There is always something to do, take initiative, ask questions, STAY BUSY

Daily Procedures:

• Check the Google Calendar to see where you are going, if unsure send a text to Craig or P.J., LOOK AHEAD IN THE SCHEDULE to be prepared and insure you have everything you need for your upcoming projects.
• Bring your laptop and tools to every job site every day
• Basecamp – always update once tasks are completed, make notes if parts are needed so we can make preparations.
• Think your way through a project before showing up on site to insure you have the necessary parts and supplies, this helps to eliminate return trips

When in a client’s home:

• Remove footwear and set aside from doorway
• Put down drop cloths
• BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL
• Be courteous and professional
• Always ask the client if you can enter their Master Bedroom or other sensitive rooms
• Cover furniture before making dust (cutting speakers, etc)
• DO NOT set your tools on client furniture our counter tops without protection
• BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL

All of the above in English:

• If you are at work…..WORK, find something to do or ask

Employee Rules:

Communication:

• Relay issues, reply to texts and e-mails in a timely fashion. Communication is the key to us being productive and efficient.
• ALWAYS use your Home Concepts e-mail for all business/client related communications.

General Rules:

• Please communicate with clients and let them know where things are at in the process
• No headphones on site (use a radio or speakers system), this disconnects you from providing a personal experience and building the relationship with the client, it’s also a safety hazard (especially on prewires), it makes it very hard to communicate when working as a team
• No Facebook, Twitter, or any social media type stuff while working.  Although you are a salaried employee you are expected to work and put in a certain amount of hours.  Productivity is important when we are as busy as we are and hope to be moving forward.  Personal phone calls should be limited.  If it’s not related to work then it should be limited.  We notice these things and although we try and maintain a relaxed working environment it still irritates us.
• When you are at work please take the initiative to find things to do, if you need something to do just ask what can be done, there’s always things to do that can help the business, be productive.  Even during slow times please be productive, learn, test, clean up, don’t just sit on your ass.

Travelling for Work (not Trade Shows or Training):

On occasion you may be asked to travel to a project site that requires overnight stay for period of up to a week (sometimes more).  This was stated during the interview process and is expected to be accepted as part of your employment.

Expectations:

• Prior to travelling insure that you are prepared, all products are in stock, and all tools needed are on hand. Check, double check and triple check.  PLAN, PREPARE, EXECUTE.
• Due to the time constraints these projects may have you are expected to work efficiently and sometimes work longer days so that the job can be completed on time.
• You are expected to pay for your own meals, just as you would if you weren’t travelling. You will be reimbursed (amounts stated below).
• KEEP ALL RECEIPTS!

 Reimbursements:

• You will be reimbursed the following amounts for meals, if Home Concepts covers a meal then you will not receive the associated reimbursement:
  • Breakfast – $15 per meal
  • Lunch – $15 per meal
  • Supper – $20 per meal
• You will be reimbursed for any parts, products, supplies that you have to purchase when away if there is not a management credit card available. Receipts will be needed to be submitted before a reimbursement is issues.  No receipt, no reimbursement.
• KEEP ALL RECEIPTS!

Lodging/Travel:

• Home Concepts will cover all travel expenses for the following:
  • Gas
  • Hotel/Motel room
  • Flights and baggage fees
• Home Concepts will NOT cover the following expenses:
  • Charges to the room for food, entertainment, movies, etc. (only the room rate is covered)
  • Lost or stolen tools and supplies.
  • Upgrades to seats on flights

Exemptions/Exceptions:

Due to the fact that these away projects are not a regular occurrence we understand that there may be instances where you are not able to travel.  We try our best to schedule these types of projects well in advance and those chosen for these projects are expected to accept the project without any pushback or complaining.

• If you are not able to travel for a project at a specific date and time please make management aware of this at least 2 weeks prior to travel so that other arrangements can be made.
• Repeated failure to travel for a project when requested may result in unpaid time off, suspension or may lead to termination of your employment.

Valid Exceptions:

• Family emergency (death, birth of a child, wedding)
• Unable to travel due to medical reasons (Dr.’s note required)
• Vacation time already booked and approved by management

Non-valid Exceptions:

• I don’t want to go (employment will be terminated)
• I went last time (employment will be terminated)

These projects produce a lot of added work and stress on the management team so please don’t add to that stress.

* Any unforeseen instances or anything not covered in this section will be resolved by Home Concepts management and the result is to be accepted and will be added. 

Employee Time Off Rules:

 Vacation Time:

• Fulltime employees are entitled to 2 weeks (10 working days) paid vacation per calendar year (January-January) after 5 years of consecutive employment an additional week of vacation will be awarded for a total of 3 weeks (15 working days), after 10 years of consecutive employment an additional week of vacation will be awarded for a total of 4 weeks (20 working days).
  • All vacation times and dates will be determined by a mutual agreement between the employer and the employee.
  • The employer requires 30 days’ notice for vacation requests unless another agreement is reached.
  • If an employee terminates their employment within 90 days after using vacation time this vacation time will be deducted from their final pay.
  • Vacation days cannot be carried forward to the following calendar year
  • All salaried employees are paid for their vacation time therefore no additional compensation will be awarded for unused vacation time.

Flex Days:

• Fulltime employees are entitled to 5 “Flex/Personal Days” of paid time off during a calendar year, after 5 years of consecutive employment an additional 1 day will be allowed (6 total).
  • These days can be used as sick days
    • consecutive “sick” days allowed
  • These days can be used consecutively if needed to attend to a close personal relations/family member (marriage, death in a family, birth of a child, etc.)
  • These days can be used consecutively if you need time off from work for necessary or routine health care – medical note or receipt for treatment required
  • Home Concepts reserves the right to require satisfactory proof of illness before any sick leave is granted or paid, and will require a medical note for leave of more than 3 days in duration.
  • If these days are to be used as personal days than 1 week notice is required
    • consecutive “personal” days not allowed
    • consecutive “personal” days will be considered vacation time
    • flex days cannot be added onto vacation time
  • Unused Flex/Personal Days cannot be carried forward to the following calendar year and cannot be exchanged for additional compensation.
  • Working from home during Flex/Personal days is not acceptable and once the employees Flex/Personal days are used in full the employee will not be paid for any additional time off unless special permission is granted.
  • Days with appointments are broken into 2 parts, morning and afternoon. If you have an appointment in the morning your day starts as soon as you can, if it’s not before noon then you will use the entire day, if you have an appointment in the afternoon then you work 8:30 until at least noon and are paid for ½ day or ½ a day is deducted from your flex days.

Project Installs, Service Calls and General Technical Best Practices:

When on a Home Concepts installation or service call there are certain guidelines to follow so that future service calls and installs are efficient.

Best Practices:

• If removing, changing or adjusting any aspect of a project UPDATE the project file on basecamp so that the next person doesn’t waste time having to figure it out.
• When adjusting programming remove old programming and re-label any changes.
• ATTENTION TO DETAIL – make things consistent throughout your programming and installations so if someone else needs to service your project they can easily figure things out.
• Gather any additional information that may not be in the file such as Wifi names, passwords, security codes, garage codes, etc.
• Follow instructions, integration notes and don’t jerry-rig things, do things the way they are suppose to be done, this will ensure proper functionality for the long term not just the short term.
• DO NOT INSTALL A USED PRODUCT in a clients home, these have no warranty and if they fail Home Concepts now is stuck with the bill. If a used product is provided please ask (Home Concepts management) if the client has been made aware there is no warranty.

 General Reasons why we do things a certain way:

• The goal is to reduce service calls, and when we do have service calls, to reduce the time needed to provide that service and also make it easy for anyone from our team to service each project – DETAILS
• Following instructions and integration notes when completing installs is important because although you may be able to jerry-rig something to work one way it may not be reliable – DO IT THE WAY IT’S SUPPOSE TO BE DONE