Fox Business - Small Businesses Loosen Up Corporate Structure to Boost Bottom Line

How would you like to bring your dog to work, create your own hours, and enjoy free lunch five days a week? Although this may sound more like dorm life than corporate life, a growing number of small businesses across America are offering such "work perks" to employees in order to retain top talent and keep costs low. 

"Having a job is not just about the money. You spend more hours a day with the people you work with than the people you marry, so if you're not happy in your job, no matter the amount you're taking home, it's just not worth it," says Candace Whitaker, senior vice president of human resources for Signature Consultants, an IT consultancy.

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HOA Board Member Behaving Badly? Know How and When to Discipline

You may be surprised to learn that you and your fellow volunteers can be disciplined for your behavior as members of the board of directors of your homeowners association or condominium association. Here we explain when it's appropriate for boards to consider disciplining their fellow board members, along with the possible range of action they can take.

Boards are Good Police Officers

Though serving as an HOA board member is voluntary, it's a real commitment, and most board members treat it that way. "Boards do get involved and help police the activities of their fellow board members both within board meetings as well as when a rogue board member tries to take liberties without including the other board members in his actions," says Lori Burger, CPM, CCAM, CAM, senior vice president and director of Eugene Burger Management Corp., a Rohnert Park, Calif.–based company that manages about 20,000 condo and HOA units; Burger is also the 2013 secretary/treasurer of the Institute of Real Estate Management, a professional organization of property managers. "Boards take their jobs as board members very seriously and are pretty good overall in the area of self–policing."

Though there are few formal disciplinary actions boards can take to slap the hands of their fellow members, they do exist. Some states and governing documents have automatic sanctions for board members' improper behavior.

"I've seen some association documents that say if board members fail to attend a certain number of meetings, they're automatically removed from the board," says Matthew Zifrony, who advises homeowners and condo associations at Tripp Scott, a Ft. Lauderdale law firm, and who's also served as the president of a 3,000–home association. "That's a form of discipline. There are also statutes in Florida where if board members become delinquent on maintenance fees, they're automatically removed from the board. Those both provide a level of discipline. But the real action that can be taken against board members is being recalled or not being elected again if they run during the next election."

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