• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Employee Relations

Of MySpace & Money: Don’t try to muzzle millennials’ salary talk

05/13/2008

You’d never discuss how much money you make, right? Dude, that attitude is so 20th century! The 20-somethings you work with eagerly dish about salaries, bonuses and other work topics you might consider taboo. Managers tempted to forbid such talk? Don’t let them! Here’s why.

Be alert for retaliation after employee reports wrongdoing

05/13/2008
The Minnesota Whistleblower Act (MWA) is designed to protect Minnesota employees who are punished for reporting company practices they believe are illegal. It’s not HR’s job to determine whether anything illegal occurred. However, when an employee has blown the whistle on a company practice, HR must make sure any future discipline is warranted and not driven by an ulterior motive …

HR & the Slump: The 3 Big Trends Affecting Employee Relations

05/13/2008
While all economic cycles share certain features, they also have unique effects. What’s different for HR in the 2008 downturn versus the last one? Here are three distinctive characteristics of the current economic slump that are affecting your employees—and potentially reshaping your HR programs:

Handle disabled worker’s poor performance like any other

05/13/2008
Employees who have disabilities sometimes pose special challenges. Accommodating their work restrictions requires diligence and flexibility. That doesn’t mean, however, that you should ignore declining performance …

Investigating sexual harassment? Ask victim whether she’s told HR everything

05/12/2008
Sexual harassment investigations can be embarrassing for everyone, including the alleged victim. But in order to conduct a fair and impartial investigation, HR must know exactly what happened. You don’t want to get part of the story, only to find out later that there was more …

Track all discipline so you can show harsh punishment wasn’t retaliation

05/12/2008
The easiest way for an employee to win a discrimination lawsuit is to complain about discrimination and then sit back and wait for a supervisor or manager to retaliate. That’s why it’s so important for HR to keep track of discrimination complaints and disciplinary actions …

Albany police clerk seeks $35 million

05/07/2008
Shirley Morton, a clerical worker for the Albany Police Department, has filed a $35 million lawsuit against the department and the city, claiming Sgt. Kevin McKenna subjected her to sexual harassment, unwanted physical contact and verbal abuse for 12 years …

Election ’08: What you need to know about what workers think

05/06/2008
Election year politics has a strange way of focusing employers and employees on the larger issues—such as jobs, wages and the economy. HR pros should pay attention to election year buzz. Knowing what’s on employees’ minds as they go to the polls can help savvy employers get a glimpse of the future workplace.

Kids will be kids: Inappropriate workplace behavior and teenage workers

05/06/2008

Q. Some of our employees are teenagers who work part time while they go to school. Often, this is their first job. Some of them don’t seem to understand proper behavior in the work environment. They usually are OK with customers, but when they are interacting with each other, they give each other a hard time. Verbal put-downs and even physical acts are common. Does this create any potential problems? …

HR decision doesn’t have to be perfect—Just honest

05/06/2008
Sometimes, even the best HR professionals may feel paralyzed when faced with a major employee discipline decision, such as whether an employee should be fired. They hedge and keep asking supervisors questions, or keep an investigation open to get more information. If this sounds like your HR office when dealing with a discrimination complaint, relax …