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Employee Relations

Bad behavior was the kiss of death for Passaic employee

07/01/2008
Janice Keels joined the Passaic municipal payroll as a judiciary clerk in 1999. Almost immediately, her supervisor noted that she had poor interpersonal skills. For example, Keels complained in May 2000 about a co-worker, saying she would hit her if she had to, and repeating, “I’ll hit her” …

You aren’t required to launch a perfect investigation

07/01/2008
Employers know they have to investigate sexual harassment complaints. It’s the only way to avoid liability in some sexual harassment cases. But your investigation doesn’t have to be perfect—just prompt and reasonable …

Insurance agent charged in DOI investigator’s death

07/01/2008
Michael Howell, owner of Dilworth Insurance Agency in Charlotte, has been charged in the death of North Carolina Department of Insurance (NCDOI) investigator Sallie Rohrbach. Rohrbach was auditing Howell’s agency, which had been dropped by GMAC Insurance for not promptly remitting premiums …

NCA&T employees helped themselves, audit finds

07/01/2008
An annual audit of North Carolina A&T State University found that 27% of scholarships reserved for the Bookstore Scholarship Fund for needy students were awarded to relatives of university employees …

Review all reprimands so they don’t become ‘Adverse actions’

07/01/2008
Even something as routine as a reprimand may end up being the basis for a lawsuit. That’s why someone in the HR department should be in charge of making sure that all disciplinary actions, including reprimands, are applied fairly and evenhandedly …

Restrictions on paid administrative leave?

07/01/2008
Q. We hired an employee on a short-term arrangement, but then placed her on administrative leave after we received complaints about her. The leave will continue until the end of the term, and we are going to pay her while she is on leave. Is this permissible? …

Must you provide employees with printed copies of annual reviews?

07/01/2008
Q. We have a supervisor who does annual review meetings with his employees, but doesn’t give them a printed copy. He told our HR department that he keeps the reviews at home and doesn’t want to give us copies. Must we retain copies in our official employee file? — A.R., Minnesota …

List all recent problems when citing reasons for firing

07/01/2008
Even when an employee has been performing poorly for some time, it’s tempting to cite just the latest problem as the reason for termination. But if you list just one firing offense, you run the risk that the employee might prove the discharge reason you used is false. That could give her a chance to take her case to a jury …

Be prepared to justify bonuses based on work performance

07/01/2008
It seems inevitable. Anytime you award variable bonuses to some employees, there’s apt to be some grumbling from those who got less or nothing at all. But if you make sure to base bonus calculations on reasonable and legitimate business reasons, that grumbling won’t turn into a lawsuit you lose …

Don’t let them eat cake: Join HR’s war on fat

07/01/2008

The focus on overweight employees has always been on the extra expense they add to an organization’s health care costs. But the issue also spills over into a productivity problem, according to a recent study. Aggressive wellness efforts can help trim the workforce size—in a good way …