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Employee Relations

‘Last straw’ needn’t be egregious to justify firing

06/01/2006

Employers often bend over backward to give employees second chances. But when second chances turn into third and fourth chances, you’ll  probably lose your patience and send the employee packing. Some employers, however, wrongly believe that they must cite a particularly serious behavior or performance problem as the last straw before termination. As a new ruling shows, that’s simply not true …

Are Employee Protests a ‘Protected’ Activity?

06/01/2006

Recent immigration-related rallies have led many employees, mostly minority ones, to skip work on those days. That action sparked an important question in HR circles: How should employers react to unexcused absences caused by employees’ attending political protests? …

Don’t let opinions of employees cloud your decisions

06/01/2006
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‘Excellent’ job review can still be considered retaliation

06/01/2006

Giving someone an "excellent" performance rating may seem like a nondiscriminatory act. But, as a new court case shows, high praise can still be deemed retaliation if the review is worse than a previous one and it hurts the employee’s ability to earn a bonus or promotion …

Managers’ actions top list of employee pet peeves

05/01/2006

Ringing cell phones can be annoying, but people responding to a new Randstad survey say their biggest workplace frustrations relate to the way that they’re managed. Topping the list: being spoken to in condescending tones …

Workplace abuse trickles down from the top

05/01/2006

Supervisors engage in more abuse of their staffers when they believe the overall organization makes unfair decisions, according to a new study in Personnel Psychology …

Boost health screening turnout with mix of carrots, sticks

05/01/2006

More employers are turning to incentives and penalties to increase participation in on-site health-risk assessments. Attracting employees to this first step can improve their health, which cuts your costs. Use the advice below to choose the best approach for your organization …

Explicit Sex Talk by the ‘Victim’ Can Be Used as Harassment Defense

05/01/2006

If an employee claims she was sexually harassed but the evidence shows that she gave as good as she got, you have a good defense in hand. As a new ruling shows, employees’ sexual statements can be used against them when they sue for sexual harassment …

Harassment Investigations Must Be ‘Fundamentally Fair’ to the Accused

05/01/2006

When a sexual harassment accusation arises, employers often move into crisis mode. But don’t try to push the problem off your plate by quickly jettisoning the employee via a kangaroo court …

Be wary of disciplining employees soon after union activities

05/01/2006

Courts, the NLRB and state labor relations boards are becoming more open to employee’s claims that they were disciplined in response to their union activities, even when no connection exists. For that reason, it’s important to be cognizant of your timing when taking action against a union worker …