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Beware that bloated résumé: Extra skills don’t necessarily mean better qualified

08/14/2009

Employees who want a promotion sometimes get upset when they aren’t selected, especially if the job winds up going to someone they perceive as less skilled or talented. But if the spurned employee’s extra skills or training weren’t necessary, they aren’t particularly relevant. And they’re certainly no proof that the promotion process was tainted by bias.

Can I fire a worker who was arrested for DUI?

08/14/2009

Q. As I was reading the newspaper recently, I saw one of my employees featured in the arrest column. She had been arrested the night before for driving under the influence. Committed to maintaining a law-abiding workforce, I would like to terminate this employee. Can I?

Drug-tested employees may have second chance to sue

08/14/2009

Employers almost always contract out workplace drug testing and then rely on the results the contractor provides. If the employer then fires an employee who tests positive, chances are a court won’t second-guess the decision, since the employer relied on the test. That doesn’t mean the testing company can’t be sued.

Pilferage problem: Can we require all our warehouse workers to take lie detector tests?

08/14/2009

Q. We’re finding that there’s been an upsurge of items missing from our warehouse inventory. Can we require our warehouse employees to submit to polygraph tests?

Mn/DOT criticized for lack of women and minority hiring

08/13/2009

A group of 200 community and religious leaders marched on the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) building on July 23 to demand renewed efforts to hire more women and minorities. According to protesters, Mn/DOT is employing fewer women and minorities, even as federal stimulus dollars and state infrastructure spending have swelled the agency’s employee rolls.

Minneapolis: It’s the nation’s happiest place for families

08/13/2009

Twin Cities employers have another recruiting tool. Ronald McDonald is lovin’ it here! In honor of the 30th anniversary of the Happy Meal, McDonald’s hired Sperling’s Best Places Research to evaluate the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan areas for family fun. When the results were tabulated, Minneapolis came out on top.

Develop objective promotion criteria, stick with them—and be sure to document them

08/11/2009

You’ve just made another tough promotion decision, and 10 other urgent tasks require your attention. Before you move to the next item on your to-do list, take the time to document the promotion process. That way, if you are later sued, you can easily show the court the factors you considered.

Miami makes list of sprawling job markets

08/11/2009

Miami placed seventh-worst in a Brookings Institution study that ranks cities by how spread out their employment centers are. About 62% of Miami jobs are located more than 10 miles from the city center …

Preventing identity theft: 6 steps to protect employees’ data

08/11/2009

Employers have a duty to protect their employees from identity theft. The federal Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act (FACTA) says employers that negligently or purposely let employees’ personally identifiable data fall into the wrong hands can face fines of up to $2,500 per infraction. Here are six tips on developing a data security strategy:

What plaintiff’s lawyers don’t want HR pros to know

08/11/2009

Want to know how to get under the skin of the lawyers who represent employees? Ask one. They won’t all cop to what sinks their cases, but attorney Whitney Warner did. Learn what she fears most when staring down an employer in court.