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Employee Relations

Federal employment: Training in how to complain pays off

12/04/2008

Smart employers make sure their employees know the rules by providing information several ways.

What’s this I’ve heard about employers doing away with performance evaluations?

12/04/2008

Q. Is it becoming a practice among employers to quit conducting employee evaluations?

Document absences, and excuses, too

12/04/2008

One of the best ways to win lawsuits at the earliest stages is to have ready a treasure trove of documents showing your decision about an employee was fair, impartial and reasonable. For example, for employees with absenteeism problems, document every absence.

You can apply rules more stringently to employees with greater responsibility

12/04/2008

Do you sometimes worry that every decision you make about an employee’s rule-breaking must be absolutely fair and that there is only black and white, but no gray? If so, rethink that idea.

Cautionary tale: Video cameras provide powerful evidence

12/04/2008

Here’s a cautionary tale you can tell employees when explaining they should never touch a fellow employee. With video surveillance cameras everywhere, such incidents may be caught on tape, and the employee doing the touching may have an innocent explanation that just won’t be heard over what seems to be happening on camera.

Fayetteville teacher under investigation for dissing McCain

12/04/2008

The Fayetteville Public School District is investigating a teacher at Mary McArthur Elementary School who told a student “your daddy could stay in the military for another hundred years” if John McCain were elected president.

Durham cops under investigation for slurring Obama

12/04/2008

Two Durham police officers are being investigated for allegedly posting racially charged comments about President-elect Barack Obama on their MySpace web pages in the days following the election.

How much investigation information do we need to give to suspended employee?

12/04/2008

Q. If we suspend an employee “pending investigation,” what information must we provide to the employee?

Track attitude if it’s a performance criterion

12/04/2008

Before you use attitude as one of the reasons for rewarding one employee over another, consider how you will defend that decision if another employee thinks it was based on discrimination. Here’s how to use attitude as a decision factor.

Log performance problems and deficiencies … just in case

12/04/2008

You never know which employee is going to sue you over a lost promotion, poor evaluation or other perceived slight. That’s why you should always keep careful track of all work deficiencies and document what role they played in every employment decision.