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Productivity / Performance

Managing employees in remote locations? Insist they follow the rules, just like everyone else

02/25/2011

As more and more employees work from locations away from the main office, employers are finding it challenging to manage their workforces. In some cases, that may be so difficult that it doesn’t seem worth having remote workers, especially when an employee tries to take advantage of the distance and begins to ignore the rules. Don’t let that happen.

Be ready to explain male/female pay differences

02/25/2011

The Equal Pay Act requires the same pay for women and men doing the same work under similar working conditions and requiring equal skill, effort and responsibility. But the law provides several ways for employers to defend pay disparities. Wage differences can be justified if they are based on a seniority or merit system, or vary depending on the quantity or quality of production.

When employee sues for discrimination, be prepared to show your processes are solid

02/25/2011

Judges don’t want your job. They don’t see courtrooms as publicly funded HR offices, and will often try to defer to employer decisions as much as possible. That’s a huge advantage for employers. Capitalize on that by giving the court something to hang a favorable decision on. That something is often a clear and fair disciplinary process.

If employee won’t admit disability, what are our reasonable accommodation obligations?

02/21/2011
Q. One of our employees is experiencing performance-related problems, which I believe are attributable to a mental disability. However, the worker has not notified anyone here that he suffers from an impairment that substantially limits a major life activity. He hasn’t asked for any accommodations either. Should we nonetheless offer to reasonably accommodate this employee?

Need to discipline employee? Prepare to back it up with contemporaneous records

02/21/2011
Courts love to see good records that support employer discipline—records created at or very near the time events occurred. That’s why every manager needs to know how to document discipline and who gets a copy for later use.

6 tips to help managers approach–and turn around–poor performers

02/18/2011
No manager enjoys having “the talk” with employees. But ignoring an employee’s poor performance won’t make the problem go away; it’ll only make things worse. Tell managers they can improve the odds for positive change by following these six rules of employee engagement:

Beware hasty discipline for FMLA leave-takers

02/15/2011

Even legitimate discipline against a lousy employee can spell FMLA trouble if somehow that discipline happens more quickly than it did for other employees with similar disciplinary problems. Advice: Take your time when disciplining workers who have taken FMLA leave. It’s better to be right than fast.

How can I discipline exempt staff for poor work?

02/15/2011
Q. After the holidays, our hourly employees returned to pre-holiday productivity. But our exempt employees didn’t. What can I do since their salaries aren’t dependent on how many hours they work?

The 6 biggest retention mistakes … and how to fix them

02/14/2011
With unemployment still floating above 9%, it’s a bit easier to find good employees. But keeping the best people never has been and never will be easy. What can you do to keep them around? A recent Harvard Business Review pointed to these key retention mistakes and solutions to fix them:

Document efforts to help employee improve

02/11/2011
Nothing makes an employer look better in court than clear proof that it tried to help a struggling employee improve her performance. That’s why you should keep track of those efforts.