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Employee Relations

10 ways to give employees something to smile about

04/18/2012

The greatest compliment CEO Paul Spiegelman gets from candidates who apply for jobs at his company comes in the form of a question: Why is everyone smiling? He says the answer is simple: They’re happy. Here are 10 tips for creating a culture of fun in your workplace:

Make sure employees know how to complain

04/16/2012
One of the only ways to protect your company from hostile work environment lawsuits is to provide a way for employees to complain. Then investigate the allegations.

Punish bosses who don’t report harassment

04/16/2012
Before you can fix a problem like offensive graffiti in the workplace, you have to know it exists. Short of conducting spot inspections, the only way you will know what’s going on away from headquarters and in the trenches is from employee and supervisor complaints.

Beat bias lawsuits with cold, hard facts

04/16/2012
Employers that are prepared to offer cold, hard facts to de­­fend their decisions—even those that may look suspicious at first glance—rarely lose lawsuits. The more objective the business reasons you have for personnel decisions, the better off you are.

Are your employees ready for retirement? 6 smart steps

04/11/2012
How many of your retirement-age em­­ployees are just hanging around so they can receive benefits and collect paychecks, simply because they can’t afford to stop working? It’s in employers’ best interests to improve the retirement outcomes for their employees by creating a culture of retirement readiness.

Employee concedes shortcomings? Document it!

04/09/2012

Employees who lose their jobs have an incentive to sue—and they’ll often look for evidence of discrimination to form the basis of their lawsuits. But to win in court, employees have to show they were meeting their employer’s legitimate expectations. That’s hard to do if the employer can show the employee admitted her shortcomings.

Promoted? Judge performance in new job, not old

04/09/2012
Once in a while, promotions just don’t work out. Someone who was great at one job might bomb at another. That’s especially true if the new job involves different skills and talents. Don’t let past performance make you hesitate to discipline.

Employee performance not up to snuff? You must communicate your concerns

04/09/2012
Employers have an obligation to make sure employees know what kind of performance is expected of them. Under no circumstances should you wait until you’re ready to discharge the employee to put criticism in writing. That creates the suspicion that you came up with reasons as a cover for illegal discrimination.

Health insurer CEO axed over affair, arrest

04/05/2012
Highmark Blue Shield has terminated its CEO in the wake of criminal charges that he attacked the husband of a former employee with whom he was having an affair.

Employee sounds threatening during hearing? OK to suspend while you investigate

04/05/2012
Generally, employers shouldn’t react to anything an employee says during an EEOC hearing. That’s because you don’t want to face a retaliation complaint for participating in the hearing. However, there are practical limits to what employers have to tolerate.