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HR Management

Personnel Legal Alert

02/01/2011
Dear Personnel Legal Alert Subscriber, We are pleased to announce that Personnel Legal Alert has been acquired by Business Management Daily, a longtime HR newsletter publisher based in Virginia. Business Management Daily publishes plain-English, actionable advice to high-performers at more than 100,000 organizations of all sizes. In place of your twice-monthly service, you will now […]

Payroll Legal Alert

02/01/2011
Dear Payroll Legal Alert Subscriber, We are pleased to announce that Payroll Legal Alert has been acquired by Business Management Daily, a longtime HR newsletter publisher based in Virginia. Business Management Daily publishes plain-English, actionable advice to high-performers at more than 100,000 organizations of all sizes. Please note that both your current price, and the […]

Comcast employees mentor local kids

02/01/2011
Comcast employees who sign up to mentor local school children through Big Brothers Big Sisters can use the company’s facilities to meet with their “Littles” twice a month. The workplace mentoring program is part of the cable TV company’s $10 million national commitment to support the nonprofit.

When new employee quits, know the legal way to recoup your training costs

01/28/2011

It’s expensive to train employees, especially if the job is highly specialized. Smart employers protect their investments by having new employees sign an agreement to repay training costs if they leave soon after receiving the valuable benefit. Here’s how to recoup those costs.

Can we use a lottery to set our vacation schedule?

01/28/2011
Q. I know it’s early, but last summer we had lots of conflicts over who could take vacation during certain weeks, with several people demanding time off around holidays. I want to use a lottery system to allocate vacation time. Is this legal?

Can we prohibit employee from using accrued leave to care for her husband?

01/26/2011
Q. An employee took time off to be with her husband who had a heart attack. We only have 30 employees. Management was very upset and wouldn’t let her take any paid time off and wouldn’t guarantee her position. She had accumulated several weeks of sick and vacation time. Can the company keep her from taking paid time off to care for her husband?

NLRB to decide: Are Facebook posts protected discussions?

01/26/2011
Let’s say one of your union employees has used her own computer to make negative comments about her supervisor on her personal Facebook page. Co-workers—Facebook friends of the employee—see the posts and start chiming in with further smears. Can you lawfully terminate these employees for violating your social media policy? Probably not.

Threat of suicide justifies medical exam

01/26/2011

Employers are sometimes nervous about demanding that an employee undergo a medical exam. They fear doing so somehow violates the ADA. If an employee threatens suicide or some other violent act, it’s legal for an employer to order a fitness-for-duty exam.

Put disciplinary wiggle room in your handbook

01/26/2011

Spring cleaning? Be sure to dust off and update your employee handbook too. Pay attention to this important point: When it comes to discipline policies, give yourself some flexibility to deal with unusual circumstances. Steer clear of complicated policies that try to categorize every conceivable offense for which employees could be fired.

Post-recessionary bonus plans: Strike a balance between risk and reward

01/25/2011

After two years of painful payroll reductions, there’s enough light at the end of the recessionary tunnel for some employers to begin considering pay raises. In many organizations, pay hikes will come in the form of variable compensation plans. Experts say two tactics can help HR pros create variable pay plans that strike a balance between risk, reward and fiscal stability.