Kent Companies Employee News

< All News January 22, 2020

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Employee Survey Results

Thank you to everyone who participated in the 2019 Employee Survey. We received over 170 responses from our team across the company.

When asked, “How likely are you to recommend Kent Companies to a friend or colleague?” you rated Kent Companies 8.8 on a 10-point scale. Open-ended responses provide opportunities for us to improve in several areas:

• Safety Focus: Developing more consistency in JHAs, daily huddles
• Training & Professional Development: Connecting training to opportunities for advancement
• Communication: Using the tools and resources available to improve operations
• Recognition: Highlighting the contributions of the entire field; especially those on the front lines
• Productivity: Communicating daily goals and finding opportunities to work more efficiently

Watch for new programs, benefits and enhancements from HR, Safety and all operating divisions as we use your ideas and suggestions in the new year.

2020 Level Up Safety Challenge – New Videos!

Job site safety is our first priority. The Level UP Safety Challenge is a video competition to improve safety on our job sites nationwide. We know that YOU have the best ideas on how to work safely and keep your teammates safe. Here’s your chance to share them with the team.

Submit your safety tips to your safety manager for a chance to win prizes each week!

Submit your Safety Tips Today!

Contest Dates: Now through February 7th

Prizes:

$50 prizes are awarded for the first five videos submitted each week.

How to Participate:

• Use your phone to record a short safety tip. (around 30 seconds or less)
• Tell us your name and what job site you’re working on.
• Be safe! You must be wearing all PPE in your video. You can only record before/after work or at a safe stopping point.
• Text or email your video to your local safety manager.

Send Videos to Your Safety Managers:

• Michigan/Ohio/St. Louis: David DeGraaf (616-430-7092) or Todd Darling (616-291-3978)
• Southeast: Butch Floyd (803-372-4560)
• Texas: Carson Greenlee (940-218-0445), Erie Puga (940-535-8536), Santana Gurrola (940-222-1813), Rodolfo Santillan (940-435-8424), Marco Victor (940-230-3541)

Click here to learn more and see all of the videos from 2020 and 2019!

The Make it Happen Scholarship Program is a benefit for the families of full-time Kent Companies employees. Scholarship applications are available to students pursuing trade school, technical certification or a traditional college degree.

If you have a child/dependent who is pursuing trade school, tech certifications or college, you need to know about this program! We’ve awarded over $30,000 in scholarships over the last five years.

The scholarship application is a competitive, merit-based process. That means the most well-planned, thorough and thoughtful applications earn larger scholarships.

Who can apply?

1. Applicant must be the legal dependent child of a full time Kent Companies employee and be under the age of 26.

1. Applicant must have a 3.0 grade point average. High school or College grade transcripts must be submitted with all applications.
2. Applicants who have applied previously must complete the entire application process in order to be considered.

Timeline:

• January 1-March 31: Applications are accepted.
• April 1-30: Scholarship Committee evaluations.
• May 15: Scholarship notifications are released to all applicants.

Find more information here:  https://www.kentcompanies.com/careers/employee-links/make-it-happen-scholarship-program-2/

2019 Tax Year Documents

• Be on the lookout for your W2.
• If you need to adjust your Federal withholding, contact the Human Resources team to complete a new 2020 W4.

How to Access Your Basic FSA Online

Employees enrolled in the Basic FSA program can access their account online or via mobile app.

Click here for Basic FSA Website Instructions.

Click here for Basic FSA Mobile App Instructions.

Please note, you must first create an online account before setting up the mobile app.

Attention Grand Rapids Residents!

City taxes, how do I know if I should have them withheld? 

A recent audit has shown that employees may be having City of Grand Rapids income taxes taken from their check when they’re not required to do so. City taxes are required to be withheld for those who are a resident of the city. Please make sure to verify whether or not you live within the city limits. If you currently have city taxes withheld and this needs to be changed, please let Mindy Curtiss or Sarah Miller know via e-mail (we must have this in writing). If you have overpaid into the city, filing a tax return will ensure that you are paid back any monies that were overpaid.

Please remember, if we have a jobsite that requires city taxes to be withheld, and you are working on that jobsite, this will be handled through ExakTime and no notification is needed from the employee. If you have any questions, please contact the HR department.

 

AIA Training

Thanks to Kristi Ott and Cindi Larobardiere for leading AIA and Change Order training for our Project Management teams.

Division 110 – BJ’s Brewhouse – Lansing

 

Financial Peace University – Sign Up Now!

Wednesday Evenings – 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

January 29th through March 27th  – Nine Weeks

Location: Kentwood Community Church – 1200 60th Street Southeast Kentwood, MI 49508

There is a special incentive available for all Grand Rapids employees and spouses to enroll in Financial Peace University, a nine-week money management course from Dave Ramsey.

Here’s how it works:

1. Kent Companies will pay for half the costs of the materials up front, and will reimburse the employee for their half of the cost if the employee attends at least 7 out of the 9 classes. That means you pay $50 up front to enroll, but you are fully reimbursed if you attend at least seven classes.
2. All employees and their spouses are eligible to attend the class.
3. The employees will NOT be paid for their time in class.

Click here to enroll in Financial Peace University – January 2020.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Amy Vega by calling 616-534-4909.

 

OSHA Fatal Four: 10 Tips on Electric Safety

Source: OSHA.gov

1. CORD AND PLUG OPERATED electric tools with exposed metal parts must have a three prong grounding plug AND be grounded, or be double insulated.
2. EQUIPMENT GROUNDING only works when there is a permanent and continuous electrical connection between the metal shell of the tool and the earth.
3. PROPER POLARITY IN ELECTRICAL WIRING IS IMPORTANT: hot to hot, neutral to neutral, equipment ground to equipment ground. Polarized plugs have a wider neutral blade to maintain correct polarity. Reversed polarity can kill.
4. CIRCUITS MUST BE EQUIPPED WITH FUSES OR CIRCUIT BREAKERS to protect against dangerous overloads. Fuses melt, while circuit breakers trip to turn off current like a switch. Overcurrent protection devices protect wiring and equipment from overheating and fires. They may or may not protect you.
5. MOST 120 VOLT CIRCUITS are wired to deliver 15 or 20 amps of current. Currents of 50-100 milliamperes can kill you. (1 mA = 1/1,000th of 1 Amp)
6. WET CONDITIONS LOWER SKIN RESISTANCE, allowing more current to flow through your body. Currents above 75 milliamps can cause Ventricular Fibrillation which may be fatal. Severity of a shock depends on: path of current, amount of current, duration of current, voltage level, moisture, and your general health.
7. A GROUND FAULT CIRCUIT INTERRUPTER (GFCI) protects from a ground fault, the most common electrical hazard. GFCI’s detect differences in current flow between hot and neutral. They trip when there is current leakage—such as through a person – of about 5 milliamperes and they act within 1/40th of a second. Test a GFCI every time you use it. It must “Trip” and it must “Reset”.
8. EXTENSION CORD WIRES MUST BE HEAVY ENOUGH for the amount of current they will carry. For construction, they must be UL approved, have strain relief and a 3-prong grounding plug, be durable, and be rated for hard or extra hard usage.
9. OVERHEAD POWER LINES CAN KILL. The three major methods of protection are: maintaining a safe distance, de-energizing, AND grounding lines, having the power company install insulating sleeves. Have a power company rep on the site.
10. UNDERGROUND POWER LINES CAN KILL. Call before you dig to locate all underground cables. Hand dig within three feet of suspected cable location!