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HR Management

What should we include in our updated employee handbook?

05/27/2008
Q. Our company is looking to revise and update its employee handbook. This will be the first update in several years. Is there anything specific that we should focus on to make sure that we are up-to-date? …

Army engineer arrested for spying

05/27/2008
An 85-year-old former U.S. Army engineer has been arrested on charges of giving classified U.S. documents about nuclear weapons to the Israeli Consulate. Ben-Ami Kadish, who worked at the U.S. Army’s Picatinny Arsenal in Dover from 1963 to 1990, is charged with assisting the same Israeli handler who recruited U. S. Navy analyst Jonathan Pollard …

Managers can pay for their bullying behavior—And so can you

05/27/2008
For the first time, the Indiana Supreme Court has endorsed a claim brought by a former employee against a supervisor (rather than the company for whom he worked) on the grounds that the general harassment was so severe as to constitute illegal bullying …

Do we have to hand over personnel file to employee we fired?

05/23/2008
Q. We fired an employee based on an eyewitness account of theft. We documented that report and put it in the former employee’s personnel file. That person has now hired an attorney and asked to see the file. We feel that we have no obligation to respond. Do we have to turn it over without a subpoena?

No iPods for you! State imposes killjoy clause

05/23/2008
Five state employees who got lucky at a technology conference sponsored by Cisco Systems will have to relinquish their goodies, the state Office of Administration has said. The five won door prizes, including an iPod and $50 gift cards …

What should we include in a policy banning cell phone cameras?

05/23/2008
Q. I’m looking to create a policy regarding cell phones with photographic capabilities. Any suggestions? …

Track HR decisions to show discipline wasn’t harassment

05/23/2008
The best way to prevent lawsuits or to get a quick dismissal of unfounded charges is to document every employment decision carefully. You and your staff should be able to show exactly when a decision was made, who made it and what the basis for the decision was …

Open-Door policy is good insurance against harassment claims

05/23/2008
You need an open-door policy encouraging employees to come forward with sexual harassment claims. If you show you mean business—by appropriately responding to harassment charges—chances are employees will lose lawsuits if they decline to use the open door and instead suffer sexual harassment in silence …

Addicts, disgruntled workers seize substance abuse rehab centers

05/23/2008
A group of recovering addicts and disgruntled employees seized control of six Eastern Pennsylvania drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, saying administrators didn’t understand how to treat addiction and were interfering with their rehab …

Cop pulls a Bonnie and Clyde

05/23/2008
Christian Torres, a New York City rookie police officer, allegedly robbed a Sovereign Bank in Muhlenberg Township on April 11, making off with $113,000. He didn’t get far …