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HR Management

Occasional crudeness doesn’t add up to sexual harassment

11/01/2007

Everybody knows the workplace is supposed to be free of all forms of harassment. Everybody also realizes that’s the platonic ideal. The good news is that, with vigilance, you’ll protect your organization from sexual-harassment lawsuits because any harassment that surfaces won’t be pervasive and severe …

Tech Data Corp. makes ‘Best Places to Work for GLBT’ list

11/01/2007

Tech Data Corporation, a global IT products provider based in Clearwater, made the list of “2007 Best Places to Work for GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender) Equality,” a ranking of employers’ policies toward GLBT employees …

Spirit of anti-Harassment policy more important than details

11/01/2007

Chances are your anti-harassment policy includes instructions for reporting any problems. That’s not enough—you also must make sure the policy is implemented. But don’t worry if circumstances require you to veer slightly from the policy …

Employer must show reasonable basis for ‘Honest belief’

11/01/2007

Employers don’t have to be perfect decision-makers—just honest ones. That means that disciplining or even firing someone because you believed the employee violated a rule is OK even if you turn out to be wrong about the violation. Be prepared, though, to prove to a court that your belief was based on particular facts, not just guesses …

Make sure employees know FMLA policy on returning to work

11/01/2007

Employers can require employees who are off work for an FMLA-qualifying illness (their own serious health condition or that of a child, spouse or parent) to provide updates on their conditions. But watch out if you have a policy that calls for termination if the employee fails to report for work when his doctor said he would be ready to return—especially if more FMLA leave is still available. Make absolutely sure the employee knows about the rule …

You’d think they’d know better

11/01/2007

It seems everybody’s a comedian at the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT), where off-color e-mails have been flying. Unfortunately for ODOT, not everyone in the audience is laughing. One incident involved an equal employment opportunity officer in the department’s Lima office, who sent an e-mail to a number of ODOT employees featuring a picture of a woman with large breasts and a caption …

Ohio employers make ‘Best Places to Work for GLBT’

11/01/2007

Five Ohio employers made the 2007 list of “Best Places to Work for GLBT Equality,” a ranking of employers’ policies affecting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) employees …

Best Illinois Places to Work for GLBT Equality

11/01/2007

Sixteen Illinois employers made the 2007 list of “Best Places to Work for GLBT Equality,” a ranking of employers’ policies toward gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) employees. The Human Rights Campaign publishes the list annually …

Is there an FLSA violation hiding in your company handbook?

11/01/2007

Why bother to wordsmith and labor over every word in your employment policies? Because sometimes an employer’s own pen can create liability. That was the case recently for an Illinois employer that will now go on trial for allegedly violating federal and state wage laws. Exhibit A on the list of evidence against the company: its employment policy handbook …

With proof in the underpants, pink slip is in the mail

11/01/2007

The Michigan State Police fired a Lansing forensic scientist who tested her husband’s underwear for DNA to see if he was cheating. Asked during her divorce hearing what she found, the scientist said, “Another female. It wasn’t me.” …