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HR Management

HR Professionals Week — Free HR documents

02/28/2011
In celebration of HR Professionals Week, the HR Specialist is offering you free access to an assortment of HR white papers, articles, policies and document templates. Subscribers to the HR Specialist’s Premium Plus online service have access to hundreds of valuable resources like these, plus they can receive answers to their employment law questions via our […]

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.

When manager recommends firing subordinate, investigate to make sure bias isn’t a factor

02/25/2011

If you don’t have a chance to personally observe an employee’s behavior, don’t rely solely on a supervisor’s termination recommendation. Instead, conduct an independent investigation to verify the supervisor’s claim. Otherwise, any employment decision based on that recommendation can be tainted by the supervisor’s hidden bias.

Celebrate HR Professionals Week, Feb. 28 – March 4

02/25/2011
Join The HR Specialist in celebrating the second annual “HR Professionals Week,” a five-day tribute to all that human resources pros do to make American workplaces more effective and American businesses more successful. It happens Monday, Feb. 28–Friday, March 4.

Can we make employee cover up her tattoos?

02/24/2011
Q. One of our employees has tattoos on her upper arms. She usually wears long sleeves, but summer is coming. Can we require her to cover the tattoos? We don’t have any kind of a dress code, but would implement one if it meant she had to cover them.

Should we pay for training time?

02/23/2011
Q. Occasionally, we offer in-house training and development programs for our employees. The training is strictly voluntary and isn’t conducted during normal working hours. Our company has never paid employees for the time spent attending such training. Is that legal?

Tell staff you’re monitoring work e-mail so they can’t argue it was confidential

02/23/2011
Employers can read any e-mails sent using company-owned computers or other devices, as long as they inform employees they should have no expectation the communication is confidential. That’s true even of e-mails an employee sends to an attorney to discuss a potential lawsuit against the employer.

Tap employee affinity groups to build bottom-line results

02/23/2011
An old employee-relations idea has found new purpose in today’s tumultuous business environment: Employee resource groups (ERGs)—also known as affinity groups or employee networks—are on the rise in companies large and small.

What keeps HR awake at night?

02/22/2011
Rising health care costs, implementing the new health care reforms, rapidly changing business and labor markets, growing regulatory complexity and managing the aging workforce top the list of challenges HR pros face. That’s what the Society for Human Resource Management found when it surveyed more than 9,000 practitioners.

?4U…What’s the etiquette for texting in business?

02/22/2011
If it’s common for your employees to text for business reasons, remind them to keep their professionalism intact. Business communications trainer Barbara Pachter offers these suggestions: