Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Conventional wisdom says firing an employee is one of the more difficult decisions for managers and HR. Unconventional wisdom says to think differently. Read on. Thought No. 1: Fire Sooner, Not Later When a new employee isn’t the right hire, act! When there isn’t a good match between your need and their talent, no amount […]
Discrimination claims are determined by a three-step analysis. Usually, the third step in this analysis—pretext—is key. Despite the ways in which courts have outlined how pretext for discrimination can be proven, there are times when an employee’s evidence of pretext falls short. A recent case from the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals is a […]
The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals (whose rulings apply to all Texas employers) has determined that the COVID-19 pandemic is not considered a natural disaster, thus it is not an exception to the federal law that requires businesses to give employees advance notice of mass layoffs. Employers could find themselves liable for mass layoffs […]
Last March, we wrote about a surprising ruling in which the Massachusetts Appeals Court concluded employers in the state aren’t legally prohibited from firing employees for exercising their right to file a rebuttal in response to a negative document placed in their personnel file. The decision wasn’t unanimous, the dissenting opinion was persuasive, and the […]
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 forbids discrimination based on numerous protected categories (e.g., race) in any aspect of employment, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, and any other term or condition of employment. It’s not uncommon for employees to allege discrimination based on a protected category known at the time […]
The U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals (whose rulings apply to all Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin employers) recently interpreted the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) in a case involving an interesting set of facts. The employer altered an employee’s position while he was on leave, but his compensation was frozen at a pre-leave level […]
Understanding the effects from the first few months of the pandemic can be valuable in helping understand what will happen next. A recent report sought to understand turnover and hiring trends for the month of May.
Part of ordinary business operations involves letting employees go. How you let them go and, perhaps more importantly, how they feel about being let go can have a large impact on what happens next. You don’t have to be an expert to understand that when former employees feel their termination was unjust, they are far […]
Relationships—both personal and professional—can be complicated. Just like first dates, job interviews offer candidates the chance to show a prospective employer the best possible version of themselves: smart, charming, funny, and responsible. As an employer, you ask exploratory questions about a candidate’s background, education, interests, and goals for the future to see if it’s a […]
Employment attorneys are frequently left to clean up the mess after a difficult termination. But engaging with your employees in a professional and respectful manner can go a long way toward simplifying termination cases. The following article provides some hard-won advice on the do’s and don’ts of employee terminations.