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

HR Management

FBI says Atlanta police failed to pursue child pornographer

01/01/2008

The FBI has charged Terrill Crane, the husband of Atlanta police sergeant Tanya Crane, with paying more than a dozen underage girls to have sex with him. Worse, the FBI says it has evidence that the Atlanta Police Department first learned about the alleged crimes seven years ago …

Valdosta Tech president swept up in card abuse audit

01/01/2008

Robert Abene, president of Valdosta Technical College, resigned days after his son was arrested on charges of misusing a state-issued credit card. Abene said he was resigning to focus on his family …

Don’t discount cost of harassment lawsuit—Even if you win

01/01/2008

Lots of employers win sexual harassment lawsuits, but not until they have had to air their dirty laundry in public—and pay for the privilege, too. That’s one reason to insist on a professional workplace free of sexual innuendo and harassing behavior. HR performs one of its most valuable services when it impresses on management the high cost of winning a sexual harassment lawsuit …

Can disclaimers keep handbooks from becoming employment contracts?

01/01/2008

Q. Are disclaimers in employee handbooks valid in North Carolina? …

Can we search employees’ work areas while investigating a string of thefts?

01/01/2008

Q. I work for an Internet company with about 50 other employees. Recently, there have been several complaints around the office about theft of personal property. The problem has become a distraction in the workplace and I was asked to investigate the incidents.

Our employee manual does not have any policies prohibiting theft of personal property, and there are no notices that warn employees that their work areas may be searched. What right does my company have to search a suspected employee’s work space and personal items to try to locate property not owned or related to my company? …

Romance at the office, liability later?

01/01/2008

Q. At a recent office get-together, two members of my staff announced they were officially dating. Our company has a strict policy that prohibits dating between a supervisor and a direct subordinate, but our handbook is silent as to relationships such as this one between co-workers. Are there any steps I should take to protect the company from liability? …

Court: Tailor complaint procedure to ‘Average’ worker

01/01/2008

When was the last time you read your company’s harassment reporting procedures? Could all employees in your organization understand how—and with whom—to file a complaint? It’s important to ask these questions in the wake of a new court ruling that should give you incentive to cut the legalese and confusion out of your reporting procedures …

When’s a handbook not a handbook? When everyone ignores it

01/01/2008

No doubt, your organization has an employee handbook. You may even have helped draft it or agonized over the amount of money you paid a law firm to create or review it. But one thing is certain—having a handbook won’t do you any good if no one in the company uses it …

Office love affair plus sales tips lead straight to court

01/01/2008

Jane Roberti worked as a loan officer for Allentown’s Becker Subaru. Her live-in boyfriend, Mark Wynne, also worked there as a salesman. Roberti’s responsibilities included funneling Internet sales leads to the salespeople. When employees began to complain that Roberti routed the best leads to Wynne, management counseled both to keep their personal and professional lives separate …

Is it insubordination to call in sick after being turned down for leave?

01/01/2008

Q. During the busiest period of the year, a veteran employee asked for time off to attend her nephew’s graduation. After being turned down, she called in sick on graduation day. Is this considered insubordination? And how should we handle this situation? …