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Employee Relations

Avoid overly specific ‘grounds for firing’ list

11/01/2000
A United Parcel Service (UPS) worker broke into a profane tirade at two supervisors in a dispute over his check. When he refused to stop, the HR director dismissed him on …

Employee doesn’t need to exhaust complaint channels to file suit

10/01/2000
After complaining to her store manager several times about harassment, Gabrielle Breda decided to resign and sue rather than take her complaint up the chain of command. Company policy …

Base English-only rules on business necessity

10/01/2000
Unless you have a good business reason, steer clear of preventing workers from talking to each other in their native language. In September …

FMLA regulation strikes out again

10/01/2000
Another federal appeals court has struck down Labor Department regulations that say the clock doesn’t start ticking on an employee’s allowable …

Even ‘tolerable’ harassment will nail you

10/01/2000
For months, Richard Corliss hurled racial slurs at two African-American co-workers at McDonald’s. When the two women complained, their supervisor said he couldn’t control Corliss’ mouth, claimed he didn’t know how …

Let employee bring co-worker to inquiry meeting

09/01/2000
If one of your employees wants to bring a co-worker along to an investigative meeting that could result in discipline, you’d better let him. Union employees …

Company’s ‘head in the sand’ response racks up punitive damages

09/01/2000
Faced with a bad situation, Wax Works record stores managed to make it even worse, and paid a big price. One of Wax Works’ store managers, Kerry Ogden, had compiled …

Don’t miss SIMPLE deadline

08/01/2000
If you have 100 or fewer employees, you can set up an uncomplicated retirement plan called a SIMPLE (Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees). But there are a couple of key …

Drug testing down, electronic monitoring up at big U.S. firms

08/01/2000
The proportion of major U.S. companies that require new or current employees to submit to drug tests slipped to 66 percent this year, down from 70 percent last year and 74 …

Playin’ it cool: How to handle an EEOC bias charge

08/01/2000
When a charge of discrimination lands in your lap from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or its equivalent state agency, the way you respond …