Tag: White Paper
Hiring: What Are Some of the Common Things People Lie About on Resumes?
What Should We Do About Informal Business Emails?
Our employees are too informal in their work emails to clients, vendors, etc. They are saying things they shouldn’t—such as speaking negatively about company policies—and their tone is too informal for outside business contacts. What can we do?
Family and Medical Leave: New FMLA Leave Rights for Military Families; Poster Required
The new National Defense Authorization Act expands the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to permit two new types of workplace leave for family members of injured military personnel and military reservists called to active duty. Here’s an overview of the requirements.
Domestic Partners: Do We Have to Give ‘Kin Care’ Leave to Domestic Partners?
An increasing number of our employees are registering with domestic partners. Can an employee take kin care leave to spend time with his or her domestic partner?— Stephen D., HR Manager in Walnut Creek
Survey Looks at Workplace Stress
A new survey reveals that even though 48 percent of U.S. employers acknowledge that employee stress caused by working long hours affects business performance, just 5 percent of them are taking steps to address the stress problem. The survey, conducted by global consulting firm Watson Wyatt Worldwide, also found that although 29 percent of employers […]
Food Distributor To Pay $1.5 Million In Back FLSA Overtime
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has announced a settlement with McLane Co., Inc., under which the Texas-based food and grocery distributor will pay $1,559,316 in back wages to 570 employees. A DOL investigation found that the company misclassified employees as exempt and thus didn’t pay overtime wages. McLane erroneously regarded retail merchandising specialists as […]
Administrative Exemption: Exemption for High-Level IT Employee Upheld; Simple Tips for Staying Out of Court
Employment Contracts: Could I Be Entering into ‘Implied Contracts’ Without Knowing It?
We fired an employee, thinking he was “at will,” but now he claims we made an oral promise that he could be fired only for cause. We’ll fight this one in court, but how do we keep from having misunderstandings like these? —Martin B., HR Manager in San Francisco
Hiring: Is It a Good Idea to ‘Google’ Applicants?
I recently returned from a meeting where one expert recommended doing a Google search on applicants as part of the evaluation process. He said you often find very interesting things about people, especially if they blog or have their own website. Someone else thought it might be an invasion of privacy, and others objected that […]