Category: HR Strange But True

Catch up on the latest odd, offbeat, and humorous HR stories.

Readers’ Stories: Work Parties Gone Bad

In a recent HR Strange but True column, we reported on a survey that gathered responses on strange sightings at company parties. Apparently our readers’ had a few odd experiences of their own. In the first story, an SBT reader said he received a complaint from the establishment where the winter work party was being […]

Employees Flyin’ High for Going ‘Above and Beyond’

Ten US Airways employees are flyin’ high this holiday season—and no, it’s not from imbibing at the company party. These employees went “above and beyond” delivering outstanding service to not only the airline’s customers, but to fellow colleagues—and some took home $10,000! According to a press release, the Above and Beyond (A&B) program allows US […]

Have You Ever Found Out a Reference Was a Fake?

Do you check up on applicants’ references? If you don’t, you may want to start. According to a new survey, nearly 30 percent of employers reported that they have caught a fake reference on a candidate’s application. Do you check up on applicants’ references? If you don’t, you may want to start. According to a […]

Germs: An Office Romance!

By the time you’ve left the house for work, you’ve probably already done a fair amount of cleaning. You’ve wiped down the kitchen counter, thrown in a load of laundry, and washed your hands a couple of times. Then you get to work where, unfortunately, the cleaning stops and you spend 8 to 12 hours […]

Hangovers, Sick Days Often Follow Company Holiday Parties

Do you see an uptick of absences the day after your company holiday party? According to a recent survey, many times, alcohol is to blame for the missed day. According to a recent survey from Caron Treatment Centers, 64 percent of Americans have called in sick or know someone who has missed a day of […]

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New Study Links Hiring to Matchmaking

A new study, “Hiring as Cultural Matchmaking: The Case of Elite Professional Service Firms,” suggests that employers are often looking to find a candidate whom they would like to hang out with rather than identifying the person who can best do the job.  “It is important to note that this does not mean employers are […]

Reader’s Story: The Refrigerator Vandal

It’s finally time for your lunch break. You go to the fridge, open the door, and … where did it go? Having your lunch disappear from the fridge is an aggravating (and according to a recent poll, not all that uncommon) experience. However, coworkers aren’t always to blame. In this story, submitted by a reader, […]

Strange Sightings at Company Parties

In a new survey from The Creative Group, advertising and marketing executives were asked to recount the wackiest or most outrageous thing they have heard of an employee doing at a company event, such as a holiday party or outing. Here are some of the funnier responses from a press release about the survey: An […]

Feeling Generous?

Double the Donation, a website with the mission to “help nonprofit organizations and schools increase fund-raising from corporate matching gift and employee volunteer grant programs,” recently featured 10 companies that triple—or even quadruple—employee donations. Here are a few interesting employee matching programs from the list: Time of the year—Tiffany & Co.’s matching gift ratio varies […]

‘Don’t Obfuscate the Obvious’ Say Confused Fed Workers

It seems so simple. You see this one word on those news crawls at the bottom of your TV picture or on websites every time there is inclement weather—“Closed.” But it seems the federal government can’t be so succinct when it wants to tell its employees that their workplace isn’t open. The confusing language used […]