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HR Management

Spell out your company’s total compensation commitment

05/20/2013

Employees too often see their base salary as their only compensation. They forget how much other benefits are worth. Illuminate those compensation blind spots by preparing an annual total compensation statement for each employee.

Multistate employer: Can we centralize our I-9s?

05/20/2013

Q. We are headquartered in Oklahoma and have offices in another state that do their own hiring. Must I maintain a copy of I-9s at our headquarters from that other office? 

Is gossip clogging up your email inboxes?

05/16/2013
About 15% of email at work is considered gossip—defined as “the absence of a third party from a conversation”—according to a Georgia Institute of Technology study.

Employee gets ticket in company car: Who pays?

05/16/2013
Q. We give certain employees company cars to drive. If they get traffic tickets, are we responsible for paying the fine? Or can we hold the employee liable? We don’t have a company policy on this. I was wondering if there are any sample policies.

Set boundaries when employees get personal

05/15/2013
How deeply do you want to get involved with employees’ personal lives? Becoming a sounding board for every personal problem will eat up your workday (and drain you emotionally). It’s up to you to set boundaries.

Beware hidden downsides of overtime

05/13/2013
An increase in overtime hours can mean an increase in accidents and production errors. Consider these overtime policies and practices that can help reduce the likelihood of safety and production problems.

Vacuum company sucks it up, agrees to settle bias suit

05/10/2013
Waconia-based Applied Vacuum Technologies (AVT) has settled a disability discrimination suit with the EEOC. A former employee had filed the complaint after the company terminated him.

Avoid July 5 fireworks

05/10/2013
July 4 falls on the worst possible day of the week for scheduling concerns—Thursday.

Ensure supervisors understand they must be alert for FMLA scenarios

05/09/2013
Employees don’t always know to ask specifically for FMLA leave. Some may not even know they are entitled to time off for a serious health condition. But that doesn’t mean you can ignore the obvious and discipline a worker for missing work when it’s clear he or she may be entitled to FMLA leave.

Unseen lawsuit peril: Too much performance input from too many co-workers

05/09/2013
Seeking performance appraisal input from too many employees can cause problems if you’re sued by a terminated worker. The wider a net you cast, the more likely someone will be called to testify about his or her opinion of the discharged employee’s performance. The problem: If any of those co-workers retire, quit and move on, you may have trouble tracking them down.