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by Michele L. (Warnock) Brott Not long ago, I wrote a rather lofty theoretical analysis about the notion of “constructive discharge,” or the legally frowned-upon practice of forcing employees to quit instead of firing them. I never expected a real-life threat of constructive discharge to erupt on the national stage. But, voilà! The very public […]
by Mark I. Schickman Kermit the Frog has been fired! From his birth in 1955 until 1990, Kermit was performed by his creator, Jim Henson. Since 1990, veteran Muppet performer Steve Whitmire donned the green felt. During Whitmire’s tenure, Kermit appeared in over 20 movies, got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, was […]
by Susan Hartmus Hiser Q Our company’s production work generally gets slow in the summer, and the company’s owner is a longtime proponent of charity work. Rather than giving employees extra vacation time in the summer or even laying them off, he would like to start offering a week of paid time off (PTO) to […]
by Jodi R. Bohr Because I’m an Arizona native, you would think I would be able to tolerate the excessive heat that visits the Phoenix area every summer. For the most part, I can. I plan my day around early morning errands and hole up the rest of the day in air-conditioned indoors. I never […]
by Andrea Moseley Last year, CareerBuilder found that 31 percent of employees don’t feel their workplace is well protected from a physical threat and 31 percent don’t feel their workplace is well protected from a digital hacking threat. Common sense dictates, and my experience representing corporate officials and employees confirms, that when people spend eight […]
by Jacob M. Monty No one looks forward to an I-9 audit from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). I-9s are notoriously problematic because not only does the law dictate which types of documents an employer may accept, but it also stipulates that employers cannot demand or refuse particular documents. In other words, if a […]
Managing absences is hard enough when an employer’s only worry is getting the work covered, but when extended absences and overlapping laws also factor into the equation, the job gets even trickier. Federal, state, and local laws don’t always intersect smoothly, meaning employers need to be especially careful when dealing with employees in need of […]
by Michael P. Maslanka Someday you may be the point person when your company has a PR nightmare. Let’s see what we can learn from the recent debacle in which a passenger was dragged off a United Airlines flight. Lesson #1: Measure twice, cut once Let’s start with the first of two apologies from United’s […]
by Jeffrey M. Cropp Summer is upon us. The kids are out of school, and your employees are taking time off for vacation. As a result, it’s a good time to take stock of your vacation policy and how it’s being implemented. This article addresses various issues associated with vacation policies. I need that in […]
by Tammy Binford and Holly Jones The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to allow a limited form of President Donald Trump’s “travel ban” to take effect means people from the affected countries who work for employers in the United States are probably exempt from the ban. But the decision doesn’t clear up all questions for those […]