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Employee Relations

Never let fired employee unfairly blame bias; be prepared to prove performance deficiencies

11/07/2011
Employees who have lost their jobs have very little to lose and everything to gain by suing their former employers. Your best defense when firing: Al­­ways carefully document a performance-related reason for the termination. That will trump all but the most egregious cases of supervisory expressions of bigotry.

Don’t let bias complaint stop legit discipline

11/07/2011
Here’s an important reminder for HR professionals handling em­­ployee discipline: If the disciplinary process is well under way—and you believe that the proposed discipline is fair, reasonable and based on facts—there’s no need to stop the process just because the employee files an internal discrimination complaint.

Punish employees who ‘occupy’ in their spare time?

11/01/2011
Q. What recourse do employers have against employees involved in ‘Occupy [Wherever]’ protests during off-time?

Don’t let bias complaint stop legit discipline

11/01/2011
Here’s an important reminder for HR professionals handling em­­ployee discipline: If the disciplinary process is well under way—and you believe that the proposed discipline is fair, reasonable and based on facts—there’s no need to stop the process just because the employee files an internal discrimination complaint.

Solving for the unknown: No duty to accommodate disability that employee never revealed

10/31/2011
Some disabled employees never tell employers about their con­­ditions—even if their disability could affect performance. And of course you know you shouldn’t treat employees as disabled unless they claim a disability. But what if you fire someone for poor performance?

Aggressive defense makes short work of litigation

10/31/2011
Never ignore an employee lawsuit, even if you think it is frivolous. In­­stead, prepare to defend yourself as soon as possible. That way, you can push for a quick dismissal if it’s clear the employee has no case.

The art of giving negative feedback: A 7-step approach

10/28/2011
Giving feedback is an important management task but certainly not an easy one—especially when the feedback isn’t all sunshine. Fortunately, it’s a skill that can be learned.

Outsource staffing to save labor costs, maintain productivity

10/19/2011
Even in an economy that’s running full-tilt, HR and management face pressure to spend less on labor. If you’re hearing a cost-control refrain from the C-Suite, it might be time to dust off alternative staffing models that helped you survive the Great Recession.

Personality clash or hostile work environment? It depends on hypothetical ‘reasonable person’

10/17/2011

Overly sensitive employees can interpret anything negative as hostile. But often what is subjectively hostile is just unpleasant from an objective standpoint, the result of an apparent personality conflict. It all depends on how a hypothetical “reasonable person” who finds himself in the same situation would view the matter.

Sometimes it’s OK to fire before parental leave

10/17/2011
Many employees believe that the FMLA and its state counterpart, the Minnesota Parental Leave Act (MPLA), absolutely prevent an employer from terminating someone who asks for or takes parental leave. That’s not the case.