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HR Management

Assess needs of employees, business before offering perks

12/08/2008

Work/life benefits can help take the edge off employee stress during a time when people fear their jobs aren’t secure and managers are pressing workers to produce more with less. Still, it’s especially important during an economic downturn for organizations to limit benefits to those that will help them meet their bottom-line goals.

Bronco busting while drunk, suing once sober

12/05/2008

Rachel Love, erstwhile patron of Johnny Utah’s in Rockefeller Center, is suing the restaurant for allowing an inebriated individual (herself) to ride a mechanical bull, leading to injuries.

Cautionary tale: Video cameras provide powerful evidence

12/04/2008

Here’s a cautionary tale you can tell employees when explaining they should never touch a fellow employee. With video surveillance cameras everywhere, such incidents may be caught on tape, and the employee doing the touching may have an innocent explanation that just won’t be heard over what seems to be happening on camera.

Durham cops under investigation for slurring Obama

12/04/2008

Two Durham police officers are being investigated for allegedly posting racially charged comments about President-elect Barack Obama on their MySpace web pages in the days following the election.

Ensure private info doesn’t become public

12/04/2008

You may not realize it, but your organization may be contributing to identity theft by failing to safeguard personal information such as employees’ names, addresses, birth dates and Social Security numbers. Any one of those breaches could violate the North Carolina Identity Theft Protection Act.

Document absences, and excuses, too

12/04/2008

One of the best ways to win lawsuits at the earliest stages is to have ready a treasure trove of documents showing your decision about an employee was fair, impartial and reasonable. For example, for employees with absenteeism problems, document every absence.

Must we allow former employees access to personnel files?

12/04/2008

Q. A former employee has contacted our HR manager demanding a copy of her personnel file. Must we make this available?

Your guide to medical confidentiality under the ADA and the FMLA

12/04/2008

Both the ADA and the FMLA have strict requirements for how employers must handle employees’ confidential medical information. HR professionals need to know these rules to comply with both acts—and to avoid expensive legal liability for failing to do so.

When a collection company calls, may we disclose employee medical info?

12/04/2008

Q. May an employer provide an employee’s medical information to a collection company?

You can apply rules more stringently to employees with greater responsibility

12/04/2008

Do you sometimes worry that every decision you make about an employee’s rule-breaking must be absolutely fair and that there is only black and white, but no gray? If so, rethink that idea.