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Employee Relations

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 …

Use software to block employee music downloads

02/01/2004
Just one hip-hopping employee downloading tunes can sap your computer resources, expose you to legal problems and kill productivity. Advice: Make sure your computer-use policy prohibits music downloads and outlines punishments. …

Don’t lower standards for disabled staff

02/01/2004

Q. One of our employees has multiple sclerosis and isn’t meeting our production standard, which calls for 70 percent production level. This employee is achieving only a 59 percent level. From an ADA standpoint, what would be a reasonable accommodation? —M.R., Pennsylvania

You decide definitions for full- and part-Time status

02/01/2004

Q. How many hours must employees work to be considered full time? Part time? —D.S., Texas

Compliments on dress and hair don’t equal sex harassment

01/01/2004
A female supervisor repeatedly complimented a female customer service rep on her choice of jewelry, clothing and hairstyle. The rep sued, alleging the constant comments were harassing and constituted a hostile …

When facing a bias lawsuit, avoid these three dumb defenses

01/01/2004
Your organization can defend itself against race discrimination lawsuits in many ways, but a recent ruling illustrates how three excuses will flop in court …