Month: June 2009

Termination Clauses in Canadian Employment Contracts

By Katie Clayton and Farrah Sunderani If you include a termination benefit in a Canadian employment agreement, it is important to be precise. As discussed in previous Northern Exposure entries, employers in Canada must provide notice or pay in lieu of notice when terminating an employee without cause. This minimum requirement is legislated in employment […]

Monitoring the Use of Electronics? Privacy Alert!

Yesterday’s Advisor covered technology policies in general. Today we look at a narrower area—electronic monitoring—and provide an audit checklist to help you avoid expensive privacy lawsuits. Employers have many good reasons for monitoring employee activity, but they should always remember that there are legal issues involved, with privacy being the most prevalent. In general, says […]

Hot List: New York Times Bestselling Paperback Business Books

The following is a list of the bestselling paperback business books as ranked by the New York Times on June 8. 1. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell. How and why certain products and ideas become fads. 2. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen […]

Psst! I’ll Show You How to Work Around that Policy

Make sure employees know the “why” behind your tech policies, says attorney Lisa Guerin. Otherwise, they’ll find workarounds that could confound—or bring down—your systems. Guerin’s tips come from her recently published book, Smart Policies for Workplace Technologies (NOLO, 2009). She says that you must explain the policies you write about technology. If your employees don’t […]

Summer Dress Codes at Work

Workplace Dress Codes and Hot Weather

Q: Now that it’s getting warm (or should I say “hot”), some employees are wearing less and less to work every day. It doesn’t really bother me, but I believe some employees may be a little uncomfortable with the skimpy attire of their coworkers. A: As with most things that fall under the heading “best […]

EEOC Settles Race Discrimination Case Against Construction Company

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has entered into an agreement with Wheeler Construction in which Wheeler will pay two employees a total of $325,000 to settle a race discrimination claim. The case may reflect the EEOC’s increased attention to race discrimination claims, which, like other discrimination claims, are rising at a rapid rate. HR […]

Protecting Your Greatest Assets During Tough Times

Yesterday I received an e-mail from an employee in our company that really got me thinking. Her e-mail was about one of the less talked about effects of tough economic times. Her note contemplated how layoffs, or even the hint of layoffs, can cause a company to lose the employees it most desperately wants to […]

A Business Coach? For Me?

Just My E-pinionBy Brad Sugars To emerge from economic turmoil as viable businesses, many firms (like GM, for instance) will have to make dramatic changes. A business coach might be your best bet to help you reorient to a changed business climate, says business coach Brad Sugars. Sometimes, the best ideas come from a true, […]

The Envelope, Please

Litigation cost: $0 – $50,000 Even though NBC is taking a break from The Office this week, we aren’t. The latest webisode, “Blackmail,” may be short but it packs a potential punch for Dunder Mifflin. Creed wreaks quiet havoc by gathering his colleagues’ best-kept secrets and using them to extort favors or a paltry $6 […]

Hawaiian Airlines Responds to Pilots Union Media Campaign

The Air Line Pilots Association International (ALPA) and Hawaiian Airlines have been negotiating toward a new pilots’ contract for approximately two years. Recently, ALPA has engaged in an extensive media campaign alleging that Hawaiian Airlines hasn’t made up for past wage cuts during the period the company was in bankruptcy several years ago. Contrary to […]