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HR Management

Tell managers: No discrimination for in vitro fertilization

08/13/2008
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) prohibits discrimination “because of or on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions.” Until now, it was an open question whether that law covered fertility treatments. Now the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that employers can’t punish female employees for undergoing in vitro fertilization …

Prejudgment, blind faith by HR may prove costly

08/12/2008
How HR handles discrimination complaints can mean the difference between winning and losing lawsuits. The key lies in using good faith when checking out allegations of discrimination. Do not automatically assume that either party is correct. Keep an open mind and conduct an impartial investigation, giving everyone a chance to present his or her version of events …

3 Keys to Creating ‘Employee Lifetime Value’

08/12/2008
Savvy business people have long focused on customer lifetime value—the gains to had from cultivating lifelong relationships with customers eager to patronize them again and again. Here are three keys to nurturing those same kinds of relationships with employees—and reaping the same kinds of rewards.

Fired employee wants termination letter, access to personnel files

08/12/2008
Q. An employee we recently terminated has asked us to provide him with a letter explaining the reasons for his termination. He also has asked for a copy of his personnel file. Are we required to respond? …

Not to split hairs, you can’t sell Harleys looking like that

08/12/2008
Craig Berg joined Apol’s Harley-Davidson of Alexandria as a salesman in May 2006. During his tenure of less than a year, Berg received at least 10 warnings from supervisor Thomas Brenden about his appearance. Brenden objected to Berg’s facial hair, which he shaved every few days. “If you want to grow a beard, grow a beard,” Brenden told him. “If you don’t want to grow a beard, then shave.” …

Can we withhold accrued vacation pay if employee doesn’t give two weeks’ notice?

08/12/2008
Q. Our company policy is to not pay an employee for unused vacation time if the employee resigns without giving the required two weeks’ notice. A former employee has challenged this policy and is threatening to take the company to court. Is this policy lawful? …

Transportation Companies Face New Drug-Testing Requirements, Starting on Aug. 25

08/12/2008
Starting Aug. 25, organizations that must comply with U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) drug-testing regulations face some new requirements. Specifically, drug testers must directly observe any follow-up urine tests. The goal: prevent employees from cheating the drug test.

6 Ways Workers Can Tell You’re Just Talking the Talk

08/12/2008
“Our People Are Our Greatest Assets.” It’s been one of the business world’s favorite clichés for decades. For just as long, it’s prompted eye rolling from the greatest assets themselves. Now a provocative BusinessWeek article takes HR to task for allowing talking the talk to stand in for walking the walk. Do any of these accusations sound familiar?

Take steps to ensure employees aren’t exposed to porn at work

08/11/2008
Perhaps because controlling Internet access to pornographic images isn’t technically difficult, and because word tends to get around pretty quickly if a co-worker is showing porn to co-workers, courts now are clamping down more on employers that don’t do enough to make sure the workplace is not a sexual cesspool …

Judge upholds gun law as companies duck and cover

08/11/2008
Florida employees may keep guns locked in their cars at work, but customers do not have the same right, Tallahassee U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle ruled in July. Hinkle upheld most of Florida’s new “guns at work” law, which went into effect July 1, but said it is so poorly written that it’s “stupid.”