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Employee Relations

More civility in workplace = fewer lawsuits

02/01/2007

Happy employees are far less likely to sue. And the secret to creating happy employees typically isn’t related to more pay or exotic perks. It’s more about creating an atmosphere of trust, appreciation and mutual respect …

Performance reviews: a two-way street

02/01/2007
Performance reviews are an excel­lent time to exchange important information with employees. But to be effective, there must be a genuine exchange.

10 ways to squeeze more value from your EAP

02/01/2007

Is your organization reaping the full financial benefits from its employee assistance program (EAP)? If employees aren’t using it, the answer is probably “no” …

Taking on more work/Life duties? Start by collecting data

02/01/2007

As work/life benefits have become mainstream, organizations have shifted their administration from stand-alone work/life departments to their employee benefits specialists. The good news is that the same management skills that contribute to an outstanding comp or benefits program also make for the best work/life programs …

Paid suspensions are safer than unpaid ones

02/01/2007

When you learn that an employee may have committed a crime or other offense that’s serious enough to warrant termination, you’ll naturally want to investigate before making a final decision. …

Deducting leave for partial-day absences

02/01/2007

Q. Recently, we audited our jobs and determined that some employees were classified as hourly when they should be exempt. We reclassified them. But now, I have a question about handling time off for our newly exempt employees. By law, are we required to NOT charge an exempt person’s time if they’re out of the office for a half day? And if we do start charging an exempt person’s time (vacation or personal) if they miss an hour or two, are we setting ourselves up to be sued?

Traffic tardiness: Be consistent with punishments

02/01/2007

Q. How many times should we allow an employee to be late before giving an oral warning? We have a mandatory 8:30 a.m. production meeting. Everyone knows traffic is out of control, but most employees manage to arrive on time most of the time. Some are consistently late and constantly blame traffic. —J.A., California

To defeat bias lawsuits, track all supervisors’ discipline

02/01/2007

Nothing will sink an employee’s discrimination case faster than evidence that you handed out punishment in the exact same doses to other employees as well …

‘He said, she said’: Train staff in conflict resolution

02/01/2007

What’s a manager to do when faced with conflicting accounts of an argument between employees? An important part of that answer is to resolve it quickly, before the dispute spreads like a cancer through your organization …

Workplace violence: Florida law opens liability beyond workers’ comp

02/01/2007

Twelve percent of all violent crimes committed in the United States occur in the workplace. And Florida employers face unique legal challenges in their response to such violence …