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Employee Relations

CareerBuilder employees compete to come up with next big idea

04/01/2008
CareerBuilder.com is helping its 2,400 employees build their own careers with an Ideas from Everywhere contest. Employees submit business proposals for programs that the organization could add, says HR Director Jade Augustine …

How to handle employee’s domestic abuse

04/01/2008
Q. There is an employee in our company who repeatedly comes in to work with injuries obviously suffered at the hand of her spouse. As an employer, do we have an obligation to alert authorities about at-home physical abuse of an employee? …

Nipping threat of nepotism in the bud

04/01/2008
Q. Some employees have complained anonymously that an employee is receiving preferential treatment because she’s the niece of a manager. We would like to defuse the situation by transferring her to another office. Is this OK? …

Incorporating Self-Reviews: A Simple, 3-Question Process

04/01/2008
by Paul Falcone Drafting performance reviews is always a daunting task for supervisors, for many legitimate reasons: Judging others’ work often appears exceptionally perception-driven (vs. fact-driven), and providing honest feedback is potentially confrontational. Plus, if you overinflate grades, you create a record that may not withstand legal scrutiny if you later want to terminate or […]

Partner with marketing to create effective benefits messages

04/01/2008
More than half of all organizations rely on employee newsletters, special mailings and other printed pieces to increase enrollment in benefits programs, says a new study from the benefits consulting firm Watson Wyatt. Those pieces might not be as effective as you think. What you really need to do is convince employees to make some changes in how they manage their own benefits …

Get employees to grade themselves: A simple, 3-question process

04/01/2008

Drafting  performance reviews is always a daunting task for supervisors, for many legitimate reasons. In reality, it doesn’t need to be that way. One simple way to reinvent performance appraisals is to shift the responsibility for initial evaluations back to your employees.

Monitor to make sure harassment really has stopped

04/01/2008
It sometimes happens: Production floor or other entry-level employees lacking a—shall we say—sophisticated outlook on life go a little too far. Perhaps they play a practical joke that is offensive to a co-worker. Someone complains, and HR investigates. The culprits apologize, and everything settles down. Is the organization in the clear? …

Golden Corral faces harassment suit

04/01/2008
Four former employees are suing Raleigh, N.C.-based Golden Corral Corp. for sexual harassment they say they endured while working at a restaurant in Port Richie. The plaintiffs claim three male workers, including an associate manager, sexually harassed them repeatedly …

Ensure harassment victim knows you want her to stay

04/01/2008
Employees who believe they are enduring unbearable harassment may feel they have no choice but to resign. If that happens, they may be able to sue their employers for constructive discharge. But employers can mitigate that danger by making sure the employee understands that management wants her to stay on board while the company investigates …

Be careful what you promise: You may extend employee’s time to sue

04/01/2008
The Minnesota Human Rights Act (MHRA) protects employees from discrimination, but requires them to file their claims within one year of the discriminatory act. But an employee who believes she has a claim and waits to file may sometimes gain extra time—if the discriminating entity promises to investigate …