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HR Management

Preparing your workplace for a possible swine flu pandemic

09/15/2009

The United States is facing a swine flu outbreak that has caused the government to declare a public health emergency. Recently, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published new guidelines to help employers prepare for flu season and prevent the rapid spread of the H1N1 influenza. Here are the CDC’s suggestions, plus insight on your risks and obligations as an employer …

Keep Facebook from frittering away employee productivity

09/15/2009

A new study estimates that nearly two-thirds of Facebook users access the site at work. On average, they spend 15 minutes on the site during work hours, and the electronic back-and-forth could represent as much as 1.5% of an employer’s productivity losses. The good news: You can stop it.

Hourly employees and off-site e-mail access: What are the wage-and-hour rules?

09/14/2009

Q. Several of our hourly employees have requested access to their office e-mail from their iPhones, BlackBerrys and other similar devices. We are inclined to allow this access, but want the employees who receive access to sign express waivers to the effect that they will not be “on-the-clock” while doing so. Can we legally require such a waiver?

Don’t drop your guard just because Illinois court dismisses whistle-blower case

09/14/2009

Just won an Illinois whistle-blower case? Don’t rest easy yet! If you’re an employer that’s also covered by federal law, brace yourself for a federal whistle-blower lawsuit, too.

In tough cases, safety first: Attempted suicide at work grounds for discharge

09/14/2009

Employers don’t have to put up with employees who pose a safety hazard to others—or themselves. While suicidal behavior may indicate an employee is suffering from a serious health condition under the FMLA or a disability under the ADA, it isn’t an excuse for violating safety rules.

Blago fallout leads to more ethics classes for state staff

09/14/2009

Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich may be gone, but the effects of the ethics scandal that drove him from office live on. Gov. Pat Quinn has signed a package of legislation governing ethics for Illinois state employees.

Fired driver files suits over false-positive drug test

09/14/2009

A recent Illinois case illustrates how employers can get into expensive litigation if their drug-testing vendors don’t follow proper procedures when conducting random drug tests.

What’s the new law? Must we now provide health insurance to employees’ adult children?

09/14/2009

Q. I understand that Illinois has passed a new law requiring certain employer-provided insurance policies to cover an employee’s dependents who are up to age 26 (or up to age 30 in some instances). Which employers and which policies are affected by the new law?

You have the go-ahead: Fire employee if you discover problems during FMLA leave

09/11/2009

When an employee takes FMLA leave, chances are you’ll have to replace him with a temporary employee or assign the work to others. What happens if the fill-in worker discovers that the employee currently out on FMLA leave wasn’t doing as good a job as you thought? Can you then fire the employee while he’s on FMLA leave?

Tell it to HR: Your hair’s too big and I don’t like your aura

09/10/2009

You have to handle plenty of serious employee gripes about benefits and harassment. But as shown by a new CareerBuilder survey of 2,600 HR pros and hiring managers, you also have had to deal with some truly offbeat complaints. Some highlights: