• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

HR Management

No requirement to break up love triangles–but be prepared for workplace violence

01/18/2012

When romance blooms at work, trouble may lurk not far behind. That’s especially true when co-workers fight over the same love interest. A spurned employee may be out to get her rival, leading to all sorts of conflict. Fortunately, this isn’t the sort of thing that employers have to intervene in—as long as there’s no workplace violence.

How to help employees understand the value of their benefits

01/17/2012

Boosting your benefits communication during lean economic times can help your organization retain good employees and ease their worries so they can focus on work. The key: Show employees the value of their benefits.

Has your organization ever been sued by a current or former worker over an employment law dispute? If so, what happened?

01/17/2012
Knock on wood: Half of our readers say they’ve stayed out of court.

Tiny tech budget? Try mobile comp and benefits apps

01/17/2012
Human resources departments with small budgets can turn to a growing variety of free and low-cost mobile and web-based applications to increase efficiency and cut costs. The apps are available in several areas of HR, including hiring, benefits, attendance and performance reviews.

7 comp questions you must be able to answer

01/16/2012
For everything else that contributes to employee satisfaction, most people wouldn’t do their jobs free. Compensation is a critical tenet of the employment contract. If you’re committed to attracting and retaining excellent employees, you had better be prepared to answer these questions about your compensation practices.

Your next career move: Field HR or corporate HR?

01/13/2012

Field HR or corporate HR: Neither career path is necessarily better; each has its own challenges and rewards. But there are important differences between the two that influence your career direction. Knowing those distinctions is a key step in any HR job move …

Employers don’t have to be right–just honest

01/12/2012
Here’s something to remember the next time you agonize over discharging an employee for breaking a rule: While you should treat all employees honestly, you don’t have to conduct a mini trial to determine “guilt.” It’s enough to believe you had a legitimate reason to fire the employee—even if it later turns out you were wrong.

20 years is too late to file harassment suit

01/12/2012
Here’s some good news for employers that work hard to prevent sexual harassment. Employees who wait decades to report harassment won’t get far if their employer had an effective harassment policy and enforced it.

Should we retain copies of I-9 documents?

01/12/2012
Q. We recently decided to start making copies of documents that employees provide to complete their I-9 forms (driver’s license, etc.).  Do we need to go back and complete new I-9s for employees hired before this date or ask them to provide the documents again so we can make copies?

Give your Outlook a boost using smart add-on tools

01/11/2012

Because HR professionals work on a computer much of the day, Outlook is the workhorse that typically keeps their wheels moving. But what if you could add some power to those wheels? PC World recently published a list of downloads that can help “power up” your Outlook: