• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

HR Management

Corporate job sites becoming more interactive

07/01/2008
When someone lands on the “Careers” page at your organization’s web site, what can he or she do? Most employers’ sites give two options: (1) Fill out an application or (2) leave the site. But that is starting to change …

Anchors, oy vey!

07/01/2008
There may be something to the tales of a bitter rivalry between Alycia Lane and Larry Mendte, both news desk fixtures at CBS affiliate KYW-TV in Philadelphia—and now both in legal hot water …

Comcast takes check for woman’s ‘Right arm’

07/01/2008
When Krista Cooney, a Comcast customer in western Pennsylvania, sent the company a check made out for “My Right Arm and Zero Dollars” to protest her cable bill, she thought she’d had the last laugh. But Cooney contends an unidentified employee at Comcast posted an electronic copy of the check on the Internet …

How to protect yourself from Internet-Related liability

07/01/2008
The Internet is an invaluable tool in many workplaces, but lately it’s become a somewhat unexpected cause of employment law litigation. Two issues lead the wired way to the courthouse for employers: gathering information about job candidates through web sites and potential liability for what their employees do while using the Internet …

If you use a job application kiosk, warn applicants that lying is a crime

07/01/2008
If, like many employers these days, you cut down on recruiting costs by using a computer-based kiosk application system, consider adding a warning before applicants begin the process. Colorado makes it a crime for a person to knowingly access “any computer, computer network, or computer system … to obtain, by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations or promises, money, property, services … or other thing of value” …

It’s time to revamp the way you calculate turnover

07/01/2008
There’s a big difference between losing three slugs versus three stars in your department within a month. Yet, at most organizations, those losses would be calculated the same—as an overall percentage of employees—when figuring turnover rate. The problem: Such a simple metric doesn’t account for performance differences among departing employees …

Must you provide employees with printed copies of annual reviews?

07/01/2008
Q. We have a supervisor who does annual review meetings with his employees, but doesn’t give them a printed copy. He told our HR department that he keeps the reviews at home and doesn’t want to give us copies. Must we retain copies in our official employee file? — A.R., Minnesota …

How long must we retain employee records?

07/01/2008
Q. How long should a company keep its basic employment records once an employee has been terminated? …

Can emergency contact info be mandatory?

07/01/2008
Q. We’re cleaning up our personnel files and updating emergency contact information. Some employees don’t want to provide their contact information. Is it legal for us to require them to give it to us? …

Hand Out Paychecks in Most Efficient, Legally Safe Way

07/01/2008

Putting paychecks (or pay stubs) in employees’ hands is a basic HR chore: No glory, but it must be done right. What’s the best way to do it? HR specialists around the country chimed in on this topic. Here are some of their best ideas …