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HR Management

Must we release employee files in response to a subpoena?

03/01/2008
Q. We recently received a subpoena to turn over an employee’s personnel file. The employee is a party to a lawsuit; the company is not. Do we have to comply? Should we tell the employee?

10 things HR can do to help their companies go ‘green’

03/01/2008

Everywhere you turn, something or someone is being promoted as “environmentally friendly.” U.S. employers are no different; they’re jumping into all kinds of green practices in a bid to improve their public images, boost employee morale/loyalty and potentially cut costs …

‘Just kidding. Can we come back now?’

03/01/2008

Three teenage students suspended for calling a teacher a pedophile on the social networking site Facebook.com have settled their lawsuits with the Three Rivers School District in Cincinnati …

New York’s new employment laws hit employers hard

03/01/2008

Last year, while you were hard at work, so was the New York Legislature. Lawmakers passed a record number of laws affecting employers in 2007. Some laws you may have read about, while others you may have missed. Make sure you’re up to speed on new state laws that surely will impact how you manage employees in 2008 and beyond …

What legal issues does GPS monitoring raise?

03/01/2008

Q. Our company would like to start a program where all sales employees will use cell phones that have GPS monitoring. We want to keep track of where employees are so we can make sure they make their sales calls in their own territories and are not wasting time. Is this OK to do? Must we tell employees about the GPS monitoring? What about tracking employees after hours? …

Can you fire someone for his online (but off-Duty) actions?

03/01/2008
The Internet has created a whole new pond for employment lawyers to fish in. But you’re not powerless to your employees’ embarrassing—and potentially illegal—online activities. You can discipline employees who go over the line. You should specify what off-duty activity is prohibited in terms of unbecoming, immoral or illegal behavior …

Warn staff of new e-Mail scams using IRS’ name

03/01/2008
The IRS last month posted a warning to taxpayers about e-mail and phone-based scams that falsely use the IRS’ name. The goal: Trick you into giving up your Social Security number, credit card info and other key financial data …

Business.gov now offers state compliance advice

03/01/2008
The U.S. government’s main web site for business regulatory compliance, www.Business.gov, has always billed itself as the go-to site for federal compliance. But its new search features and expanded content now allow you to search for information on regulatory information from state and local governments, too …

Paying candidates for interviews: Folly or the future?

03/01/2008

In many cases, the best candidates for your job openings aren’t in the job market. They’re happily employed elsewhere, and they need a major incentive to show up at your door for an interview. A new start-up job board intends to create that incentive …

3 free tools to perk up employee teamwork

03/01/2008

If your organization hasn’t moved beyond “reply all” e-mails as its sole means of online employee interaction, promote any of these three options to spark more interaction and productivity …