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Employee Relations

Adopt an anti-harassment policy and plan—before workplace malice gets out of hand

08/28/2009

Do you know exactly how you should respond to a sexual or racial harassment complaint? If you don’t, now is a good time to come up with a strategy—before you have to implement it. Advice: Your plan should spell out exactly how the harassment investigation will be handled, who will handle it and what will happen if the allegations prove true.

Prompt response key in hostile environment cases

08/28/2009

Employers that quickly respond to employee sexual harassment and hostile environment complaints cut their liability.

Free speech on trial: California cops have tough time pressing First Amendment claims

08/26/2009

Public employees retain the right to free speech under the First Amendment and can’t be punished for exercising that right. However, the right is limited when the “speech” they’re using is part of their jobs. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has recently concluded that for California police officers, free speech protection may be even more limited.

How to silence 7 common employee gripes

08/25/2009

A recent study says that 40% of managers are considered “bad bosses” by their employees. Yet most managers assume that their relationships with their employees are running smoothly. Obviously, some of those bosses are wrong … and that can create major problems for a business. Here are seven common employee complaints about management, plus ways managers can silence them.

Confront bigotry—it won’t go away by itself

08/25/2009

It may be tempting to ignore rumors about racial or other hostility in the workplace. But you do so at the company’s peril—especially if some of that hostility is coming from a supervisor who has the power to hire and fire.

Duties, not title, determine harasser’s status

08/25/2009

Employees whose supervisors sexually harass them have a fairly easy time winning their cases. But courts are much more lenient when the alleged harasser is a co-worker. That means employers can relax a little if an employee complains about a co-worker. Fortunately, the alleged harasser’s title isn’t the deciding factor. Instead, courts look to the actual job responsibilities.

Marciano slapped with $370 million bill for defamation

08/25/2009

A Los Angeles Superior Court jury recently awarded $370 million in damages to five former employees who said they were defamed by Georges Marciano, co-founder of fashion company Guess, Inc., and an independent candidate in the 2010 California governor’s race.

Five rules for keeping the promotions process fair

08/25/2009

Supervisors who want to hand-select a particular employee for a job may be tempted to play fast and loose with the company promotion process. Watch out!

Employee claims harassment but won’t identify alleged culprit: What would you do?

08/20/2009

Occasionally, employees work up the nerve to complain about sexual harassment only to get cold feet about pressing their complaints or naming names. What should you do if an employee complains, but then just asks for a transfer instead of identifying the alleged harasser? That’s the situation one employer recently faced.

Disability isn’t a free pass to insubordination; enforce behavior rules with all employees

08/20/2009

Some employees with genuine disabilities may think they can use their physical or mental conditions as an excuse to break workplace behavior rules. They can’t. As long as those rules are clearly explained and enforced equally, you don’t have to listen to my-disability-made-me-do-it excuses. You can lower the boom.