CHAMBER CALENDAR

June 11

Executive Committee 

Meeting @ 12pm

Chamber Boardroom

June 11

Ambassador Committee 

Meeting @ 4pm

Chamber Boardroom

June 18

Government Committee 

Meeting @ 3:30pm

Chamber Boardroom

 June 19

Chamber Boardroom 

June 20

After Hours Mixer @ 5pm

Spa Resort Casino

401 W Amada Rd

 Lead$ Lunches

El Mirasol Restaurant        

140 E. Palm Canyon Drive     

Palm Springs Chamber 

Executive Board

Andrew Starke, President

Palm Springs Power Baseball Club

Tim Ellis, Past President

Palm Mountain Resort and Spa

Ulrich McNulty, President Elect

Schlecht, Shevlin & Shoenberger

John Dahlin, Treasurer

Maryanov, Madsen, Gordon & Campbell

James Canfield,

 David Gandolfo, Vice President

Palm Springs Airport Self Storage

Jerry Noonan, Vice President

Fisherman's Market & Grill

Palm Springs Chamber 

Board of Directors

Ryan Brown, Classic Party Rentals

Aftab Dada, Hilton Palm Springs

Jeff Grubbe, Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians

Mary Jardin, The Palm Springs Follies

Mike Keane, Milauskas Eye Institute

Martin Massiello, Eisenhower Medical Center

Keith McCormick, Palm Springs Exotic Car Auctions  

Joel Ontiveros, Airport Quick Car Wash

Tammy Perezchica, Canyon Commercial Services, Inc.

David Portener, TravelHost Magazine 

Patrick Service, Las Casuelas Terraza 

 The Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce has named Barbara and Jerry Keller, owners of the restaurants LuLu in Palm Springs and Acqua Pazza at the River in Rancho Mirage as the 2013 Business Persons of the Year.  Mayor Steve Pougnet will present the award during the Annual Installation and Awards Luncheon slated for June 25, 2013 at 11:30 a.m.  

 Mayor Steve Pougnet will also present awards to CareFusion, Large Business of the Year, Socialize Palm Springs, Medium Business of the Year, and BuzzFactory, Small Business of the Year.

  Jody Weikal,  Palm Springs Errands and More, was unanimously selected as the Chamber's Ambassador of the Year. 

Andrew Starke, Palm Springs POWER Baseball, will be turning 

the gavel over to Ulrich McNulty, Schlecht, Shevlin and Shoenberger, 

as President 2013/2014. 

New board members this year include Erin Scott, Integrated Wealth Management, Carolyn Caldwell, Desert Regional Medical Center, and Scot Koehler, Time Warner Cable. 

Retiring Board members Tim Ellis, Palm Mountain Resort & Spa and Mary Jardin, The Palm Springs Follies, will be honored for their years of service on the Board of Directors.

Tickets for the luncheon are $55 per person and may be purchased online at www.pschamber.org or by calling the Chamber office 760/325-1577.

FLASHBACK PHOTO!

3rd Annual Police and Fire Appreciation Luncheon

May 2nd, 2013 

The third annual Palm Springs Police and Fire Appreciation Luncheon was held at the Palm Springs Convention Center and honored businessman and philanthropist Harold Matzner with the second Richard M. Milanovich Community Leadership Award. 

Eisenhower Medical Center sponsored a free seminar explaining the Affordable Care Act and how California Insurance Exchanges will affect your business.

Martin Massiello (COO of Eisenhower Medical Center), Nona Watson (CEO Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce, Andrew Starke (President of Palm Springs POWER Baseball)

MEDIA ALERT

STATER BROS. CHARITIES TO PRESENT CHECK TO AMERICAN HEART & STROKE ASSOCIATION

WHERE:              #120 East Yucca Valley Stater Bros. Supermarket

                             58060 29 Palms Highway Yucca Valley, 92284

WHEN:                Wednesday, June 5th  12:00 pm

 WHY:                  Stater Bros. Charities partnered with the American Heart & Stroke Association during the month of February, which is National Heart Month, to help fight heart disease and stroke.  Stater Bros. Charities will be presenting a check to the American Heart & Stroke Association in the amount of $364,901. 

COST:                     FREE and open to General Public.

 

Five Things Employees Think They Are Entitled to at Work... But Aren't

Question:

My Employees often tell me they are legally entitled to certain things at work, but I can't find any laws that prove them right or wrong. How can I handle these demands?

Answer:

It's not uncommon for employees to insist there are laws giving them certain workplace rights, when in fact no such laws exist. Here are some common examples:

Cell Phones:

            Have you noticed employees are suddenly spending a great deal of work time texting or using social media on their cell phones?

            Employees have NO legal right to possess or use personal cell phones in the workplace. Employers may prohibit employees from bringing cell phones to work entirely, or may require that they be turned off and/or put away during the work day. Of course during meal breaks, when employees do have the right to leave the premises, they may use their cell phones.

Smoke Breaks:

            Smokers may insist they have the right to more (or longer) breaks in order to satisfy their nicotine habit.

            Employees are, of course, entitled to a certain number of 10-minute paid breaks based on the number of hours they work, but during those breaks they may be required to remain on the employer's premises.

            Since smoking indoors in the work-place is generally prohibited, and an employer may ban smoking anywhere on its property, employees may be limited to smoking only during their meal breaks and only off the property.

Bereavement Leave:

            What do you do when your receptionist tells you her husband's Great Uncle Joe has passed away, and she will be taking three days of bereavement leave to go to the out of town funeral?

            There is NO Federal or State law giving employees a right to any bereavement leave in any situation, no matter how close a relative has passed away. Most employers do choose to give bereavement leave, but each employer may determine what degree of relation is required to use such leave.

            (NOTE: In California, if an employer offers bereavement leave for the death of a spouse, it must also offer the same for the death of a registered domestic partner.)

Choice of Vacation Days:

            Your busiest month of the year is coming up. And an employee tells you he'll be taking a two-week vacation to Tahiti right in the middle of it.

            Although your employee may have plenty of vacation time in his vacation bank, he has NO legal right to demand to take vacation at any particular time. As an employer, you may always approve or deny vacation requests based on legitimate business needs.

            Be careful not to deny vacation requests that may be seen as illegal retaliation, such as telling a woman who has recently returned from pregnancy disability leave that she can't take a vacation because she has already taken too much time away from work.

Paid Family Leave:

            You have 20 employees and one announces he'll be taking his six weeks of Paid Family Leave when his baby is born next month.

            The Paid Family Leave program is simply an Insurance Policy that the State of California requires employees to buy through a mandatory payroll deduction (which provides wage replacement when an employee takes a leave for baby bonding or to care for an ill family member), but it does NOT give any employee a right to take a protected leave for baby bonding.

            Unless an employee has a legal right to baby bonding leave under the California Family Rights Act or the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act, an employer is NOT required to give an employee time off simply because wage replacement insurance exists through the Paid Family Leave Insurance program.