Litigation Value: allowing office staff to take over the warehouse and invent a new loading method = several bizarre Workers’ Compensation claims; Andy asking Oscar about his “wildest fantasy guy” while choosing new warehouse personnel = yet more fodder for Oscar’s potential claims; and controlling your own destiny = priceless.
This week’s episode started off with the warehouse crew winning the lottery and promptly resigning to pursue other dreams, including opening adult entertainment venues and creating “an energy drink for Asian homosexuals.” Darryl is less than thrilled for his former warehouse co-workers, given that he used to participate in the lottery before his promotion and the crew won using the numbers from his birthday. Darryl is too depressed to complete his task of hiring a replacement warehouse crew, which leads Andy to ask for volunteers to ship the day’s orders. With Dwight, Jim, Erin, and Kevin covering the warehouse, what could go wrong? One damaged wall, one mostly empty shipping truck, one lost customer, several injuries, and numerous greasy paper boxes later, Darryl and Andy both learn to have a greater appreciation for experienced warehouse crews.
While Dwight and the gang are inventing new ways to ruin – oops, I mean ship – paper orders, Darryl’s morose, negative attitude leaves Andy with the job of hiring a replacement warehouse crew. The only problem is that Andy has no idea what he is looking for in a new crew. Instead, he questions applicants about their acquisition of a Masters in Warehouse Sciences and whether they are distracted by bubble wrap. Wise employers will carefully review the job description prior to conducting interviews and ensure that the person interviewing the applicants understands what the position requires, especially if the initial interview is conducted by someone in a department other than the one in which the job opening is located.
Prior to conducting interviews, employers should also review the completed applications looking for unexplained lapses of employment but avoiding inquires into periods of disability. It’s generally best to conduct interviews individually rather than attempting to interview the entire applicant pool at one time. Furthermore, employers are required to provide reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities. An employer should avoid engaging in recruitment activities that exclude candidates with disabilities, such as participating in a job fair at a location that is not wheelchair accessible.
After fumbling his way through the interview process, Andy ends up with a PhD candidate, a man who may or may not have a hearing problem, and a body-builder who is also Oscar’s current fantasy man. It does not appear that these three candidates have any significant warehouse experience, so Oscar may be the only one in the office happy with Andy’s hiring skills. Andy may not know how to hire a warehouse crew, but he does manage to get Darryl out of his funk with a brutally honest reality check. Darryl leaves work empowered by the realization that he controls his own destiny. Now he just needs to find a way to get the heavy “taco air” out of his basement.
[hulu:http://www.hulu.com/embed/L03JibH9eHBph1KRz_Z05A]
