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Employee Relations

The HR I.Q. Test: August ’10

08/13/2010
Test your knowledge of recent trends in employment law, comp & benefits and other HR issues with our monthly mini-quiz …

6 ways to engage workers as outlook brightens

08/11/2010
In a Robert Half International survey, employees rated “working for a stable company” and “having a strong sense of job security” as the two most important factors about their work situation. Robert Half District President Brett Good suggests that organizations should leverage that new desire for stability during the hiring process. Here are six ideas from the survey that might work for you:

Reasonable accommodations under the ADA in the 7th Circuit

08/06/2010

The ADA requires employers to provide a reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals with a disability, unless doing so would cause an undue hardship. A recent 7th Circuit case sheds light on the extent of an employer’s obligation to accommodate an employee’s accommodation request.

Checking up on alleged leave abuser? Document why you suspect particular employee

08/06/2010

Do you think some employees may be taking advantage of your paid leave plan? If so, it’s OK to set up a surveillance program to catch the worst offenders. Just make sure you document why a particular employee’s behavior is suspicious. Good reasons to check up include “coincidental” timing like absences clustered around weekends or holidays.

Conducting a RIF? Use diplomatic language

08/06/2010

In these difficult economic times, if you have to conduct a reduction in force, think carefully about how you select those who will be terminated, especially if you anticipate bringing some workers back when the financial picture improves. For example, don’t tell employees they were picked for layoffs because their work was substandard. Use a gentler approach.

Must we pay workers who have been suspended?

08/06/2010
Q. We recently sent an employee home for not following his supervisor’s instructions. Do we have an obligation to pay him for the full day regardless? How should we handle this situation in the future? Is this considered administrative leave?

Loose lips lose lawsuits: Screen performance reviews for FMLA comments

08/03/2010
Comments supervisors make on performance evaluations can come back to haunt the company—especially if they concern the FMLA. That’s why HR should carefully review performance evaluations and tell supervisors to zip it when tempted to gripe about FMLA leave.

$6 million fraud scheme earns five years in prison

07/30/2010
Chad Jurgens of Big Lake will spend the next five years in the big house after admitting to scheming to defraud his employer, computer hard drive manufacturer Seagate Technologies.

Kucinich & Fudge ask for DFAS investigation

07/30/2010
U.S. Reps. Dennis Kucinich and Marcia Fudge, members of Congress from Ohio, have asked the Acting Comptroller of the United States and the Inspector General of the Department of Defense to investigate allegations of racial discrimination at the Cleveland facility of the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS).

Recalcitrant worker? Document and fire

07/30/2010

Some employees can’t or won’t acknowledge that they aren’t meeting their employer’s expectations. They ignore negative evaluations, don’t follow through on improvement plans and won’t take direction. You may have no choice but to fire the employee. If you do, don’t worry. Careful documentation will stifle any later lawsuit alleging some form of discrimination.