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Employee Relations

Track what happens to everyone on a PIP

03/19/2012
Here’s a tip if you use performance improvement plans (PIP) before termination. Track what happens to everyone who’s on a PIP. Note those who quit instead of facing discharge.

10 ways to help employees feel less overwhelmed

03/19/2012

Employees who survived the downturn have absorbed work left behind by laid-off co-workers. “Overwhelmed” is here to stay. As an HR pro, you might not be able to help employees embrace that sad fact, but you definitely can help them manage it. Here’s how:

8 tips to gain CFO’s wellness program buy-in

03/14/2012
If you want the C-suite to support employee wellness programs, show your chief financial officer the money. Here are eight suggestions that can help you convince your organization’s top brass that programs promoting health and wellness are good for your business’s bottom line:

Which of these HR issues causes the biggest problems in your organization?

03/13/2012
The day-to-day squabbles of the working world cause the biggest problems for most HR pros.

How often do you review and revise job descriptions?

03/06/2012
The need to hire someone new is the major impetus to revise job descriptions.

Details, details: 5 online tools to help employees focus

03/05/2012
Increased workloads … tighter deadlines … fewer resources. All of these have conspired to put a premium on employees’ ability to remain focused on the details of their jobs. Here are five free or low-cost sources designed to measure and improve attention to detail.

Incompetence can’t turn manager into hourly

03/02/2012
Sometimes an employee pro­­moted to management just isn’t ready for new responsibilities. Maybe she’s having a hard time thinking like an exempt employee, longing for the days when she was entitled to breaks and overtime. Fortunately, if you discipline such employees for neglecting their duties, they can’t later claim they actually were hourly employees entitled to overtime.

Key to quick lawsuit dismissals: Clear documentation of discipline decisions

03/01/2012
It’s always wise to keep careful records showing exactly why you terminate employees. They’re crucial if an employee ever sues. By showing specific reasons why you fired someone, you will be able to show the court that the termination was appropriate.

Workers’ comp official charged with bribery

03/01/2012
Employers are always looking for ways to reduce their workers’ compensation costs. Maybe making off-the-books payments to a state official isn’t the best way to go about it …

Boss has ‘history’? Investigate independently

03/01/2012

When you have to investigate allegations that may lead to termination, it’s a good practice to conduct that investigation as independently as possible. That often means you will have to leave out of the picture any supervisors who have a negative history with the employee.