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Employee Relations

Good-Faith Discrimination Complaints Under the LAD

05/01/2007
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Use job-Related standards to kill discrimination suspicion

05/01/2007

Do you have clear and objective criteria for internal promotions? Prepared to justify those criteria as business-related? If so, you have little to fear from employees who were passed over for a promotion even if that means your management isn’t a perfect reflection of the racial makeup of the local work force …

Too old and white for HRD? Don’t discuss ‘Dream’ staff

05/01/2007

The New York Human Rights Division is facing age and race-discrimination lawsuits by two former employees who say they were tossed out for being old and white …

Should we give reviews to independent contractors?

05/01/2007

Q. We have several independent contractors working at our company, as well as many regular employees. We give performance reviews to regular employees, but not the independent contractors. Should we?—M.L., California

Break-Time Massages Ease Stress, Boost Productivity for $1 a Minute

05/01/2007

It costs the California-based digital marketing company Organic $1 a minute to boost its employees’ productivity. How? Through 20-minute massages that employees can take advantage of at the office …

Teacher bonuses linked to higher student performance

05/01/2007

Administrators in Arkansas’ Little Rock School District wanted to link financial awards for teachers to academic improvement in their students. The teachers agreed to the program without knowing what the payoff would be …

It pays to hear both sides of the story before a firing

05/01/2007

If your organization is like many, someone in HR ultimately decides whether to terminate an employee for poor performance based on supervisor recommendations and supporting documents, such as performance reviews. That can spell trouble if there’s more going on than meets the eye ...

Even Years Later, ‘Getting Even’ Can Still Be Retaliation

05/01/2007

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act makes it illegal to retaliate against employees who complain about discrimination. Ordinarily, employees must show a strong time-related connection between their initial complaint and the alleged retaliation. However, employees can file years later if they can show that the individual who allegedly retaliated waited until he was in a position to order a payback …

You can force ‘Fitness for duty’ exam with good reason

05/01/2007

It certainly shouldn’t be a routine practice, but you can require employees to undergo “fitness for duty” examinations. The trick is knowing exactly when and why such an exam is legal—or not …

Seek accommodations even if the effort seems impossible

05/01/2007

As soon as an employee makes it known that he needs accommodations, it’s up to the employer to start an interactive accommodations process, even if it turns out that no accommodation is possible …