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HR Management

FMLA leave spikes before weekends, holidays? Investigate suspected abuse, fire if warranted

08/08/2011

Employees with chronic medical conditions that flare up unpredictably may be entitled to FMLA leave. But that can create scheduling nightmares for employers. And intermittent leave, by its nature, is subject to abuse. After all, an employee on intermittent leave can simply call in and explain his condition is acting up. But that doesn’t mean employers are powerless when they suspect abuse.

5 ways to get your execs and managers to love HR!

08/05/2011

If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard an executive complain about HR. Why the bad rap? Is it deserved? What’s more, how does HR change it? HR professionals can build positive relationships with the C-Suite and management by following these five steps.

Just looking at the caller ID, you’re already dreading answering the phone. The person on the other end of the line is …

08/02/2011
Ouch! Be glad you’re not a vendor—the people HR pros really don’t want to talk to.

All together now: Teaching workers to ‘manage’ their bosses

08/02/2011
Pay-for-performance is effective only when managers spell out for each employee exactly what he or she must do to get paid more or reap perks like flexible scheduling. In reality, too few managers do that. They need to know supervision is a two-way street. Solution: Sometimes employees must “manage the boss.”

Thin-skinned employee or bully boss? Trust your HR instincts to decide who’s right

08/02/2011

HR professionals must often make judgment calls about who is telling the truth. In fact, just about every workplace investigation requires assessing the credibility of employees, co-workers and managers who disagree about what happened. Trust your gut — and follow these four guidelines for figuring out who’s right.

The HR I.Q. Test: August ’11

08/02/2011
Test your knowledge of recent trends in employment law, comp & benefits and other HR issues with our monthly mini-quiz.

When can we fire for offensive body odor?

08/01/2011
Q. We have a staff member with body odor so bad that other staff members have complained and even threatened to leave the company. The employee has been disciplined several times and required to go home without pay until she agrees to comply with our grooming code. At what point can we legally terminate her?

Must we make employees available to EEOC investigators?

08/01/2011
Q. A former employee recently filed an EEOC complaint against our company alleging race discrimination. As part of its investigation, the agency will be coming to our offices to interview employees. Do I have to make the employees available? As the HR director, should I sit in on the employee interviews?

Want to catch harassment? Go looking for it

07/29/2011

More than a decade after the U.S. Supreme Court decided its biggest cases on sexual harassment and hostile work environment, women are still filing and winning sexual harassment lawsuits. Many of those cases could easily have been prevented if HR and upper-level management had taken regular, surprise walks through the workplace and rooted out obvious signs.

Online tool helps employers record worker injuries/illnesses

07/28/2011
After an injury occurs at work, do you know how (or even if) you should keep a record? OSHA recently unveiled a new online tool, the OSHA Recordkeeping Advisor, that uses a Q&A format to help you decide.