Tag: productivity

Employment Law Tip: Keeping the Focus During the Holidays

According to the results of a new poll by Accountemps, most employees get distracted and are less productive during the holiday season. The poll included responses from HR, finance, and marketing executives at the country’s 1,000 largest companies. Forty-four percent of executives polled said their employees are less productive the week before a major holiday, […]

Employee Dating: Is There a Way to Control Employee Relationships?

We have an issue around employee dating. We tried a no-dating policy, but we can’t seem to put any teeth into it. When we confront two employees we think are dating, they say, “Hey, we’re not dating—a few of us like to get together after work for drinks.” And another couple wouldn’t answer because “It’s […]

Employee Blogging: Can You Fire a Blogger?

I just found out that one of my employees is keeping a running diary on a personal website. A lot of the diary concerns his job here, his complaints about management and his coworkers, etc. Needless to say, I’m quite upset about this—it’s unprofessional, and I know he’s been encouraging other workers to check it […]

Health and Safety: Cell-Phone-Related Car Accident Costs Employee $2 Million; Employer Tips for Avoiding Liability

Back in September 2001, we reported on a California employer that was hit with a $30 million lawsuit after one of its employees struck and killed a teenager while driving and using a cell phone. Now the employee, a former attorney, has been ordered to pay $2 million to the family of the teenager, Naeun […]

Disciplinary Meetings: New Ruling Sheds Light on When Employees Are Entitled to Union Representation

A union worker is about to be called into a monthly performance meeting. He asks if he needs union representation, and you say no. Then, because of something that occurs during the meeting, you terminate him. Were you wrong not to put off the meeting until he had representation? We’ll review a recent National Labor […]

Family And Medical Leave: Employer Can’t Reduce “Stay Bonus” Because of Family Leave; Avoid Bonus Traps

Suppose your company is undergoing a merger, and employees are offered a bonus for promising to stay on for a certain period of time—perhaps three or six months—during the rocky transition period. Do you have to pay the full bonus to an employee who goes out on family leave for some of that period? A […]

Workplace Stress On The Rise: The Top 10 Cures

Workplace stress plagues the American workforce. Recent surveys suggest that 40% of workers find their jobs to be “very stressful” and 26% are often burned out by them. The economy’s recent downturn makes matters even worse: workers may feel a need to prove their value at the same time that supervisors are being forced to […]

News Notes: Study Reveals Why Many Small Employers Don’t Offer Health Insurance

Some common misconceptions keep small employers from offering health benefits to their employees, according to a recent study by the UCLA/UC Berkeley Health Insurance Policy Program. The study revealed that 38 percent of California employers with 10 to 50 employees don’t offer coverage. The reasons why include these erroneous perceptions: it’s too expensive; it doesn’t […]

News Notes: Staff Attorneys Sue EEOC For Age Bias

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the agency charged with enforcing federal anti-discrimination laws, has been sued for age bias by three of its former staff attorneys in Atlanta. Maureen Malone, 56, and William Outlaw, 62, claim they were forced into retirement after being given a choice of transferring to other offices or being terminated. And […]