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HR Management

Making spirits bright: 10 holiday perks to ease employee stress

12/04/2007

The holiday season can be an exceptionally stressful and busy time for your employees. And of course, frazzled, frantic and depressed doesn’t equal high productivity. Try these timesaving, stress-relieving perks to ease employees’ minds and their calendars—and improve retention.

Leap-Year compensation: cutting the check

12/01/2007

Q. I am new to HR and our payroll department just told me they’re lowering salaried employees’ pay next year to offset the additional pay period caused by the leap year. They said salaried employees are paid based on a yearly amount, and we normally have 26 pay periods but we will have 27 in 2008. My initial thought is, “This is not going to go over well.” — J.S., Pennsylvania …

What are the rules on access to personnel files for employees outside Texas?

12/01/2007
Q. If a Texas-based company has divisions in several other states, does the Texas law allowing employers to deny employees a look at their personnel files still apply?

Stolen disc costs two jobs, plus a week of vacation

12/01/2007

An Ohio Office of Management and Budget intern was fired, and a manager has resigned after someone broke into the intern’s car and stole a computer disc containing sensitive state payroll and accounting information …

E-mails and messages may come back to haunt managers

12/01/2007

Increasingly, courts hearing discrimination cases order employers to turn over e-mails and text messages. These communications may include correspondence employees may have sent or received from clients and customers. One reason is that federal court rules on electronic discovery now require employers to retain vast amounts of information for use in litigation …

An e-mail from the EEOC? Don’t be so sure; Agency warns of phony ‘Trojan horse’ virus

12/01/2007

Corporate HR offices across the country began receiving e-mails last month that appeared to be from the EEOC but were actually bogus—and potentially dangerous …

Going paperless: Can personnel records be electronic?

12/01/2007

Q. We’re drowning in paper and would like to go paperless. Can we create strictly electronic personnel and payroll records? — T.P., Indiana …

One more reason to be skeptical of ‘Doctor’s notes’

12/01/2007

A growing list of web sites—such as FakeDoctorsNotes.com, MyExcusedAbsence.com and PhoneyExcuses.com—sell customizable templates of doctor’s notes, jury duty notices and even funeral announcements. The Associated Press recently highlighted one of the sites in an article that, no doubt, was forwarded to millions of otherwise unaware employees …

Protecting business—and reputation—Against ‘Cyber-Slander’

12/01/2007

Complaints from employees, customers and competitors are nothing new in the business world. Until recently, if complaints crossed the line from mere opinions to false statements—that is, downright lies—companies could threaten a defamation lawsuit. Often, the mere threat of litigation will cause a disgruntled critic to back off. Today, however, companies face a more insidious and growing problem: Internet libel, commonly known as “cyber-slander.”

Can the ‘Paperless office’ work in an HR environment?

12/01/2007

Q. Our office manager wants to move to a paperless system. Are there any documents that we must maintain in paper form? …