Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
I’m excited for this Thursday’s “newpeat.” NBC will show two previously aired episodes (“Traveling Salesman” and “Oscar’s Return“) combined with new, never-before-seen moments. One can only assume these never aired moments will include the antics we have come to expect from the Dunder Mifflin gang! Stay tuned for my analysis on Friday.
LITIGATION VALUE: Two weeks pay. Michael’s theory that a merger is like a marriage is an interesting one. He just seems to have forgotten that more than half of all marriages end in divorce. This week’s “divorce” was with Anthony Gardner, the employee Michael drove away with his crazy antics. Indeed, if it wasn’t bad […]
There is a right way to announce a reduction in force to employees. Going around the office muttering phrases such as “do your work while you still can” or “it doesn’t matter, we’ll be gone in a few weeks anyway” under your breath isn’t it. In the real world, a company planning a RIF should […]
LITIGATION VALUE: $150,000 in defense costs — unless (and that is a big unless) the WARN Act applies. Call me crazy, but announcing “we’re screwed” is not the best way to tell employees that the Company is closing down its branch. Not only does it create turmoil among the employees, but it comes nowhere close […]
by Boyd Byers Every office has at least one. The guy who stockpiles Star Wars action figures in his cubicle. Or the gal with the Hello Kitty screen saver who jams to the same music as her teenage daughter. Twenty years ago, they would have been considered immature and unprofessional. Today, they’re more likely to […]
Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) is hosting Saturday Night Live this weekend. I’m looking forward to watching it. I’ll post early next week if there’s anything on the show that relates to the blog.
Employers all know the importance of investigating allegations of misconduct, discrimination, and harassment in the workplace. But even so, that practice sometimes falls by the wayside when times get busy. Here’s a look at a recent Tenth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision on workplace investigations. Workplace Investigations: The HR Manager’s Step-by-Step Guide Making mischief […]
LITIGATION VALUE: $75,000 Nothing says “I love you” quite like a detailed legal contract acknowledging that you were neither coerced nor were promises made to entice you into entering into a relationship with your boss, and if the woman of your dreams becomes a nightmare, that you won’t sue your employer. Yes, love contracts actually […]
LITIGATION VALUE: $30,000 (But it could have been much higher) “Business is always personal” is probably not the best motto for a manager. It could lead them to act impulsively. Like, say, moving an employee’s desk from the front of the office to an “annex” inhabited by the employee’s chatty, fashion-crazed, quasi (ex?) girlfriend as […]
LITIGATION VALUE: $ 0.00 First off, let’s hear it for the HR Hero in last night’s episode. As he put it, “Toby, yeah!” I’m not sure what is going to happen with that story line, but it can’t be good that Hollywood thinks it’s funny for the HR manager to land an attractive model. Or […]