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Employee Relations

Warn employees: Text messages may be evidence

12/02/2013

Text messages make communication easy and convenient, but casual comments dashed off electronically may come back to haunt you. That’s why you should remind employees that texts should be composed with the same careful deliberation as letters and memos.

Employees want one-on-one benefits info

12/02/2013
Here’s how employees prefer to learn about their employer-provided benefits options:

Try easy, proven ways to retain best workers

11/29/2013
Determined to retain workers now that business is getting better? Here are several real-life examples of things that organizations have done in recent years to keep workers from moving on to greener pastures.

3 holiday headaches could slow down work

11/27/2013
The period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day typically finds employees distracted—if they’re at work at all. Head off a big productivity slump by anticipating these three problems.

Survey: Stress is top workforce health risk

11/26/2013
Stress is the No. 1 workforce health issue, ranking above physical inactivity and obesity, according to a Towers Watson Staying@Work Survey. But only 15% of employers identify improving employees’ emotional and mental health as a top priority of their health and productivity programs.

Who’s the (best) boss? A man or a woman?

11/20/2013
If Americans were taking a new job and had their choice of a boss, they would prefer a male boss over a female boss by 35% to 23%, although 40% would have no preference, according to a new Gallup poll.

‘I’m pregnant’ + poor review = likely employee lawsuit

11/19/2013
When a formerly high-rated em­­ployee suddenly finds herself on the receiving end of a poor evaluation, she’s likely to look for a reason—such as her recent announcement that she is expecting a baby.

You should ban all racial slurs at work, but hold supervisors to a higher standard

11/19/2013
When it comes to the use of racial or other patently offensive slurs, it makes a difference who does the talking and how often. Courts don’t tolerate slurs when a supervisor is responsible, but cut employers more slack when it’s a co-worker speaking.

Want to retain employee threatening to quit? Think twice before over-promising

11/19/2013
Here’s a warning that may save you time and trouble: If you want to keep an employee who has another job offer, be careful what you promise.

When settlement requires confidentiality, tell everyone to keep lips sealed

11/12/2013
Settling a case early on can have advantages. One of these is that you can include a confidentiality clause that bars a former employee from talking about the case. Now a Cali­­fornia court has said that such clauses are valid, meaning you can sue a former employee who breaks a confidentiality agreement.