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Employee Relations

Approach employee directly to discuss accommodations

07/01/2007

The ADA requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for disabled applicants and employees. And those accommodations must be based on an agreement between the disabled individual and the employer, using an “interactive process” …

Essential job functions may include shift work

07/01/2007

Q. We have a three-shift operation, and all employees are required to rotate and work on each shift. We are reviewing an employee’s request to be excused from moving from the day shift to the afternoon shift. The employee’s doctor says that his patient should not work the afternoon and midnight shifts for medical reasons, which we believe are valid. Are we required to honor this request? …

Profit sharing and ‘No walls’ management boost job referrals

07/01/2007

About 70% of all hires at Findley, Ohio-based hiring firm Right Thing come highly recommended by the organization’s own employees. What gets employees talking to their friends about joining the firm? It’s the company’s laid-back atmosphere—with no formal managers or departments—and an employee profit-sharing plan that involves half the company profits …

Intense training cuts turnover among hourly staff

07/01/2007

At Zeppe’s Pizzeria in Bedford Heights, Ohio, managers focus on experiential training, and lots of it. Franchisees receive a six-week course, but even hourly delivery drivers have up to four days’ training …

Diversity effort includes training next leaders

07/01/2007

Efforts to increase diversity and retention form the basis of two programs at New York-based Deloitte & Touche. The Breakthrough Leadership Program identifies about 25 of the company’s top minority professionals who exhibit leadership qualities …

Managers: 4 ways to improve your “likability” with employees

06/27/2007

A big management axiom is: “It’s not important for my employees to like me; they only need to respect me.” Not true, says management consultant Mike Winstanley. It’s fine—even important—for managers to be liked by their employees, he says. Four ways that managers can increase their “likability":

The 7 best benefits to keep older workers in the fold

06/20/2007

Employees age 55 and older—a group growing four times faster than the work force as a whole—make particularly loyal employees, a new study shows. But does your organization offer the type of benefits that will help you retain those older workers until they retire (and beyond)? Some organizations are taking that extra step …

Echoes of Virginia Tech: ‘Copycat comments’ lead to firings around U.S.

06/13/2007

“If I get one more write-up, if you think they had a problem in Virginia, it’ll be worse here.” That comment by  a Suffolk County (NY) Community College employee led to his arrest. At SeaWorld in Florida, a “joke” about the Virginia Tech shootings earned an employee the same fate. Here’s how to handle such comments in your organization. Plus, learn the 8 warning signs of violent worker behavior. 

6 ways that smaller businesses can make wellness worth it

06/01/2007

Employers can raise deductibles and co-pays only so much before employees begin to doubt the value of their health benefits. So, organizations are looking for other ways to get meaningful savings as health costs continue to rise. Enter the employee wellness program …

Choral group’s refrain: Workers who sing together stay together

06/01/2007

For 10 years, employees at the St. Louis headquarters of the A.G. Edwards brokerage firm have put together an employee chorus to sing at the annual holiday luncheon and at a local nursing home. The chorus is a holiday stress reliever, a networking tool for employees …