In yesterday’s Advisor, we featured Consultant Hunter Lott’s 2015 “Please Sue Me” presentation; today, his suggestions for handling eight tricky policy provisions.
 |
Lott (www.HunterLott.com) offered his “Please Sue Me” presentation at the Society for Human Resource Management’s (SHRM) Annual Conference and Exposition, held recently in Las Vegas.
1. Probationary Period
Whatever the name for the probationary period (he’s heard it called “comfort time”), scrap it, says Lott, and employees are on probation forever.
A probationary period misleads managers; it is not a carte blanche to fire; employees in probation periods still have all their protections in areas like harassment and discrimination.
Second, it misleads employees into thinking they can’t be fired.
Want to learn how to best represent your company’s brand? Start on Wednesday, August 26, 2015, with a free interactive webcast, Employment Branding Today: Putting the Company’s Best Face Forward. Learn More
2. Bereavement Policy
Fold it into your paid time off (PTO), says Lott. You don’t want to be in the babysitting business, trying to verify who’s related to whom. If people want bereavement time for the passing of their dog or their neighbor, so be it.
3. Dress Codes
Go for “reasonable business attire,” says Lott. You don’t want to be in the business of measuring hemlines.
4. No Dating Policies
Again, it’s about avoiding the babysitting, Lott says. Who’s going to do the nightly bed check?
5. Exit Interviews
These were invented by HR, Lott says. You’re going to say, probably for the first time, “Let’s spend an hour and have an honest conversation.” If you must do exit interviews, wait 6 weeks and ask, How is it going? Is the grass really greener?
6. Talking Salaries
Indeed, the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) contains a provision, Section 7 (29 USC Section 157), that gives all employees the right to “engage in concerted activities,” including the right to discuss their terms and conditions of employment with each other. Section 8(a)(1) of the NLRA (29 USC Section 158(a)(1)) makes it an unfair labor practice for an employer to deny or limit the Section 7 rights of employees.
7. General Behavior
Maintain a positive work atmosphere by working in a cooperative manner. Maliciously motivated criticism, bullying, or harassment of management will not be tolerated. Being insubordinate, threatening, intimidating, and disrespectful or assaulting a manager, coworker, customer, visitor, or vendor is inappropriate.
8. Your Employee NLRA Rights
Let’s be clear … No policy in this handbook should be interpreted to interfere with, restrain, or otherwise inhibit you in the exercise of your rights guaranteed in Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act. You have a right to your own wage/salary and may share that information with anyone. You have a right to raise concerns about wages and general work conditions publicly. Nothing in this employee handbook is considered proprietary or in any way secretive.
Why HR?
Lott closes his presentation answering the question, Why HR? “Because every employee deserves a great boss at least once in his or her lifetime!”
Hiring the right people can also help you avoid common legal actions. Branding brings in the right people, and the right people work hard, and are less likely to put you in a position that requires legal action.
Your employment brand can help you float or sink when it comes to attracting quality talent. Are you having trouble getting there? Fortunately, there’s timely help in the form of a new webcast—Employment Branding Today: Putting the Company’s Best Face Forward. In just 60 minutes, you’ll learn everything you need to know about employment branding.
Register today for this free interactive webcast sponsored by SilkRoad.
Are you sure that you are doing everything you can to put out a quality, positive employee brand? Join us for a free interactive webcast, Employment Branding Today: Putting the Company’s Best Face Forward. Register Now
By participating in this interactive webcast, you’ll learn:
- How branding influences the types of people that apply for your company.
- The best practices for attracting the top candidates in today’s market.
- What works and doesn’t work in other organizations.
- And more!
Register now for this webcast.
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
2:00 p.m. (Eastern)
1:00 p.m. (Central)
12:00 p.m. (Mountain)
11:00 a.m. (Pacific)
Pending Recertification Credit and Professional Development Credit
This program is pending for 1 credit hour toward recertification through the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI) and 1 credit hour towards SHRM-CPSM or SHRM-SCPSM.
Join us on Wednesday, August 26 for the free, in-depth Employment Branding Today: Putting the Company’s Best Face Forward webcast.