Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
There are dozens of details to take care of in the day-to-day operation of your department and your company. We give you case studies, news updates, best practices and training tips that keep your organization fully in compliance with ever-changing employment law, and you fully aware of emerging HR trends.
In critical HR discussions with employees, some of your managers will do best working from a script. When it comes to HR-related actions, do your line managers suffer from “wingtip in mouth disease?” You know the symptoms: They over-promise or ask inappropriate or even illegal questions during job interviews. Their performance appraisal meetings with employees […]
A new Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling underscores that you are obligated to be truthful when you negotiate a union contract and should be prepared to substantiate the positions you take. We’ll explain how one employer got it wrong.
The 5th anniversary of that tragic September morning reiterates how important it is to plan for emergencies. Here are some of the basics. With the 5th anniversary of 9/11 approaching, there’s again discussion about whether anything could have lessened the extreme loss of life on that terrible day. Although the terrorists are ultimately to blame, […]
In the past, employers have paid for time off during weather disasters. After last year’s huge losses, that may be changing. The important thing is to have a policy ahead of the storm. Wilma, Frances, and, of course, Katrina. Say those names a year or so ago and you might have been talking about someone’s […]
When an employee recently resigned from our company, giving two weeks’ notice, his manager told him to pack up and leave immediately and he wouldn’t be paid beyond that day. Effectively, he fired the employee as of that day. This didn’t sit right with me, but is it illegal?
When employees take time off of work for doctor’s appointments, we expect them to make up the time. If they don’t, we deduct from their paychecks for the hours they are gone. Some exempt employees have complained about this practice. I thought if they take personal time, we could deduct. Are our deductions legal? What […]
We’re concerned about our supervisors’ and managers’ casual use of e-mail. They are saying things about employees that might come back to haunt us. When we talk to them, they say it all gets erased after a month anyway. What should we do?
We recently had a new employee—on his second day of work—steal one of our company checks, use the signature stamp, and attempt to cash it for $7,000.00. The clerk at the check-cashing store suspected something and called us. We contacted the police and filed a report requesting the employee’s arrest. Our question is, do we […]
We’re contemplating a new policy that will allow many of our employees to work from home several days a week. Before we launch into this program, I’d like to have some clarification on what responsibilities—or liabilities—we have. If employees are injured while working at home, for example, what happens? If customers get injured while seeing […]