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Employee Relations

Wear kid gloves with accommodation requests; they are ‘protected activity’

03/01/2004
Alert managers that they can’t demote, fire or retaliate in any way against employees simply because they ask you to accommodate their physical ailments. That advice holds true even if employees …

Retaliation: Don’t retaliate against witnesses

03/01/2004
After a workplace investigation, check with all parties involved (including witnesses) to make sure they haven’t been retaliated against. The case: During an investigation into misconduct, employee Donny Abbott told supervisors …

Be consistent when you discipline and terminate

03/01/2004

Q. We fired one of our truck drivers after giving him a written warning about continued lateness in completing weekly logs. Should we have taken any other action prior to his termination? —R.W., California

7 tips for documenting employee discipline

03/01/2004
You need to be careful when writing up employees for disciplinary reasons. To protect yourself and the organization, follow these guidelines when documenting employee discipline.

5 ways to keep good people as the job market improves

03/01/2004
Issue: Retaining the best employees should be a high priority for your organization as the economy picks up. Benefits: Reduces recruitment and retraining …

Max out results from your employee-referral program

03/01/2004
Issue: Imaginative cash rewards are the key to successful employee-referral programs. Benefit: Employees hired through employee referrals have higher retention rates. Action: Read below to gauge whether your rewards …

Make sure HR spending aligns with management goals

03/01/2004
HR spending often wildly varies from the senior management’s priorities, says a new Watson Wyatt survey. Examples: While managers ranked staff selection second in terms of their priorities, it ranked 36th …

Beware labor’s pitch to create union sympathizers

02/01/2004
As AFL-CIO union membership continues to decline, it’s trying another tack: creating an army of nonunionized workers to rally support for its causes. Rather than organizing individual workplaces, this program, dubbed …

Help employees put out their own fires

02/01/2004
Picture this: Employee Chris calls to tell you that his manager, Judy, is threatening to fire him if he doesn’t improve his performance. Until now, Chris tells you, he has received no feedback one way or another from Judy, so he had no idea that she was concerned. Sound familiar?

Protect employee/witnesses from retaliation

02/01/2004
After a workplace investigation, check with all parties involved (including witnesses) to make sure they haven’t been retaliated against. While it’s illegal to retaliate against employees for filing a lawsuit, you …