Much Learning Warps Time

As we are approaching seven years of doing business in Costa Rica, with five years living here full time, it strikes us how it seems like only yesterday and yet a lifetime ago that we started growing trees.

When we think about how much has happened in the last seven years, it feels like there is enough to fill a lifetime. Because of that, we keep saying, “Was that only a year ago?!”

Yet we are so busy here, time goes by in a flash. OK, maybe that’s just because we’re middle-aged, but time does seem to creep when you’re bored.

And we are anything but bored! They say you learn something new every day, well, when you have a business in a culture new to you this is quite literally true.

Here’s just one example of what we’re talking about. As we continue to grow the plantation and wood processing business in Costa Rica, one area of constant learning is the labor law. The up-to-date books on it are available at many bookstores, both the full version and an abbreviated version. The law tends not to cover all the specifics; for that, we consult with lawyers to see how the courts have ruled in cases similar to the situation we are dealing with at the moment. For instance, we had to lay off someone for lack of work in his area. While he was still working for us, during his period of advance notice, we came up with other work that he could do and told him he was not being laid off after all. He had found another job and still wanted to leave. We didn’t think we had to pay the full separation as though we had laid him off, since he was now leaving by his own choice. One of our staff raised a question about it, so we checked with a lawyer. There had just been a ruling by the labor court in favor of the worker in a case exactly like it. Our former employee wasn’t even aware of our mistake, but we went back and paid him the difference. When you think about it, the idea of losing that separation money could keep someone from accepting a job while they have the chance.

The ministry of labor (MTSS) inspected us recently, along with all the farmers and businesses in our area. It was a lawyer who works for the MTSS who came with two assistants. She was friendly, but had the overall demeanor of a schoolmarm bringing her charges back in line. That was with us, who only had to appoint a labor relations committee and add a few lines to our salary receipts that we give our employees. We can only wonder what her demeanor is with companies and farms that she finds not in compliance with the labor laws.

We noticed that one of the assistants always stays in the car, whether because he is just their driver or because he is watching for illegal laborers fleeing the workplace, we don’t know. It’s so interesting to try to understand what’s really going on under the surface here. It’s no wonder we keep feeling like we’re going in and out of some weird time warp.

And in business as in life, “learning is not compulsory…neither is survival” (W. Edwards Deming).

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