Employment Relationship

Employee Privacy

It is Goodwind Development Corporation’s goal to respect the individual privacy of its employees and at the same time maintain a safe and secure workplace. When issues of safety and security arise, you may be requested to cooperate with an investigation. The investigation may include the following procedures to safeguard the company and its employees: searches of personal belongings, searches of work areas, searches of private vehicles on company premises, medical examinations, and the like. Failure to cooperate with an investigation is grounds for termination. Providing false information during any investigation may lead to discipline, including termination.

Employees are expected to make use of company facilities only for the business purposes of the company. Accordingly, materials that appear on company hardware or networks are presumed to be for business purposes, and all such materials are subject to review by the company at any time without notice to the employees. Employees do not have to have any expectation of privacy with respect to any material on company property. Goodwind Development Corporation regularly monitors its communications systems and networks as allowed by law. Monitored activity may include voice, email, physical mail, and text communications, as well as internet search and browsing history, and other possible forms of related communications.

Employees who make excessive use of the communications system for personal matters are subject to discipline. Employees are expected to keep personal communication to a minimum and to emergency situations.

Unauthorized copying, modifying, purging or deletion of company software, contents and files in company servers, networks and workstations without express written prior approval constitute grave violations of company policies that may be subject to termination and legal actions.

Video surveillance. As part of its security measures and to help ensure a safe workplace, Goodwind Development Corporation has positioned video cameras to monitor various areas of its facilities. Video cameras will not be used in private areas, such as restrooms, locker/dressing rooms, etc.

Privacy - Social Security Numbers

Policy. It is Goodwind Development Corporation’s policy that Social Security numbers obtained from employees, vendors, contractors, customers, or others are confidential information.

Social Security numbers will be obtained, retained, used, and disposed of only for legitimate business reasons and in accordance with the law and this policy.

Procedure. Documents or other records containing employee Social Security numbers generally will be requested, obtained, or created only for legitimate business reasons consistent with this policy. For example, Social Security numbers may be requested from employees for tax reporting purposes (i.e., Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Form W-4), for new hire reporting, or for purposes of enrollment in the company’s employee benefit plans.

Retention and access to Social Security numbers. All records containing Social Security numbers (whether partial or complete) will be maintained in secure, confidential files with limited access.

Unauthorized use/disclosure of Social Security numbers. Any employee who obtains, uses, or discloses Social Security numbers for unauthorized purposes or contrary to the requirements of this policy and procedure may be disciplined, up to and including discharge. The company will cooperate with government investigations of any person alleged to have obtained, used, or disclosed Social Security numbers for unlawful purposes.

Employment Classification

In order to determine eligibility for benefits and overtime status and to ensure compliance with federal and state laws and regulations, Goodwind Development Corporation classifies its employees as shown below. Goodwind Development Corporation may review or change employee classifications at any time.

Exempt. Exempt employees are typically paid on a salary basis and are not eligible to receive overtime pay.

Nonexempt. Nonexempt employees are paid on an hourly basis and are eligible to receive overtime pay for pre-approved or authorized overtime hours worked.

Regular, full time. Employees who are not in a temporary status and work a minimum of 30 hours weekly and maintain continuous employment status. Generally, these employees are eligible for the full-time benefits package and are subject to the terms, conditions, and limitations of each benefits program.

Regular, part time. Employees who are not in a temporary status and who are regularly scheduled to work less than 30 hours weekly but at least 20 hours weekly and who maintain continuous employment status. Part-time employees are eligible for some of the benefits offered by the company and are subject to the terms, conditions, and limitations of each benefits program.

Introductory. Employees who are in their first ninety (90) days of employment. Employees who satisfactorily complete the introductory period will be notified of their new employment classification. Introductory employees are only eligible for “statutory” benefits, that is
employment benefits required by law.

Temporary, full time. Employees who are hired as interim replacements to temporarily supplement the workforce or to assist in the completion of a specific project and who are temporarily scheduled to work the company’s full-time schedule for a limited duration.
Employment beyond any initially stated period does not in any way imply a change in employment status.

Temporary, part time. Employees who are hired as interim replacements to temporarily supplement the workforce or to assist in the completion of a specific project and who are temporarily scheduled to work at least 20 hours, but less than 30 hours, weekly, for a limited duration. Employment beyond any initially stated period does not in any way imply a change in employment status.

Work Week and Hours of Work

The standard workweek is from Saturday 12:00 a.m. until Friday 11:59 p.m. and generally consists of 40 work hours. Corporate office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with a 1 hour lunch break. Individual work schedules may vary depending on the needs of each department and the nature of operations of the employing company in the group.

Meal and Rest Breaks

Nonexempt employees are entitled to a 30-minute meal break each day in which the employee works more than 5 hours. For nonexempt employees, meal periods will not be included in the total hours of work per day and are not compensable. Any nonexempt employee who is required to work through a meal break will be paid for the 30-minute period. Exempt employees are paid a salary regardless of the hours they work so they may choose to take breaks as needed. Nonexempt employees are entitled to two 15-minute rest periods each day. Meal and rest breaks will be scheduled by the department supervisor or manager.

Time Records

All nonexempt employees are required to clock in and out to complete accurate weekly time reports showing all time actually worked. These records are required by governmental regulations and are used to calculate regular and overtime pay.

Exempt employees may be required to keep their supervisor informed of their location when leaving the assigned place of work for accountability purposes. 

Accurately recording time worked is the responsibility of every non-exempt employee. Governmental regulations require that we keep an accurate record of time worked in order to calculate employee pay and benefits. Time worked is all the time actually spent on the job
performing assigned tasks. Non-exempt employees are to accurately record the time they begin and end their work, as well as the beginning and ending time of any split shift or departure from work for personal reasons.

Tampering with, altering, or falsifying time records may result in disciplinary action, including discharge.

Your Supervisor/Manager will review the time records and attest to correctness before submitting it for payroll processing. 

Overtime

When required due to the needs of the business, you may be asked to work overtime. Overtime is actual hours worked in excess of 40 in a single workweek. Nonexempt employees will be paid overtime compensation at the rate of one and one-half their regular rate of pay for all hours over 40 actually worked in a single workweek. Paid leave, such as holiday, paid time off (PTO), bereavement time, and jury duty, does not apply toward work time. All overtime work must be approved in advance by a supervisor or manager.

Employees who work overtime without receiving prior authorization from the Supervisor/Manager may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including possible discharge.

Deduction from Pay/Safe Harbor Exempt Employees

As required by law, deductions are made from employees’ paychecks for Guam income taxes, social security and Medicare. All other deductions from an employees’ paycheck, except for court-ordered deductions and those required by law, or allowed by law for exempt employees, must be authorized in writing by the employee and approved by Goodwind Development Corporation.

Goodwind Development Corporation does not make improper deductions from the salaries of exempt employees and complies with the salary basis requirements of the federal and Guam Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Employees classified as exempt from the overtime pay requirements of the FLSA will be notified of this classification at the time of hire or change in position. 

During the week an exempt employee begins work for the company or during the last week of employment, the employee will only be paid for actual hours worked. In addition, an employee may be paid only for hours worked during a period when the employee is using unpaid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Improper deductions. If an employee believes that an improper deduction has been taken from the employee’s pay, the employee should immediately report the deduction to the HR department. The report will be promptly investigated, and if it is found that an improper deduction has been made, the company will reimburse the employee for the improper deduction.

Pay Checks

Goodwind Development Corporation’s pay period for all employees is biweekly on Wednesday, which may be changed with advance due notice to employees. If payday falls on a federal holiday, employees will receive their paycheck on the preceding workday. Paychecks are directly deposited into your checking and/or savings accounts.

Access to Personal Files

Employee files are maintained by the HR department and are considered confidential. Managers and supervisors may only have access to personnel file information on a need-to-know basis. Employees may inspect their own personnel files and may copy them but may not remove documents from their file. Inspections by employees must be requested in writing to the HR department and will be scheduled at a mutually convenient time or as required under state law. Personnel files are to be reviewed in the HR department. Representatives of government or law enforcement agencies, in the course of their duties, may be allowed access to file information.

Employment of Relatives and Domestic Partners

Relatives and domestic partners may be hired by the company if (1) the persons concerned will not work in a direct supervisory relationship, and (2) the employment will not pose difficulties for supervision, security, safety, or morale. For the purposes of this policy, “relatives” are defined as spouses, children, siblings, parents, or grandparents. A “domestic partnership” is generally defined as a committed relationship between two individuals who are sharing a home or living arrangements.

Current employees who marry each other or become involved in a domestic partnership will be permitted to continue employment with the company provided they don’t work in a direct supervisory relationship with each other or otherwise pose difficulties as mentioned above. If employees who marry or live together do work in a direct supervisory relationship with each other, the company will attempt to reassign one of the employees to another position for which the employee is qualified if such a position is available. If no such position is available, the employees will be permitted to determine which one of them will resign from the company.

Separation from Employment

In all cases of voluntary resignation (one initiated by the employee), employees are asked to provide a written notice to their supervisor at least 10 working days in advance of the last day of work. The 10 days must be actual working days. Holidays and PTO will not be counted toward the 10-day notice. Employees who provide the requested amount of notice will be considered to have resigned in good standing and generally will be eligible for rehire.

In most cases, HR will conduct an exit meeting on or before the last day of employment to collect all company property and to discuss final pay and matters of concern. If applicable, information regarding benefits continuation through the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) will be sent to the employee’s home address.

Should it become necessary because of business conditions to reduce the number of employees or work hours, this will be done at the discretion of the company.