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HR Management

Keeping I-9 forms in separate file: Is it mandatory?

10/01/2007

Q. I’ve read that we shouldn’t keep employees’ I-9s in their personnel files. Is this a suggestion or are there laws that require them to be in separate files? —L.K., Alabama …

Document good faith when disciplining for rule violation

10/01/2007

Employees who sue for sex or other forms of discrimination under the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act often claim their employer based discharge or other punishment on trumped-up charges. Employers can win these cases if they have good records showing their actions were reasonable and “in good faith” …

New regulations issued regarding Social Security ‘No-Match’ letters

10/01/2007

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued new final regulations detailing how employers must respond to Social Security “no-match” letters. That means employers that receive no-match letters now have new legal obligations when it comes to verifying and maintaining federal I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification documents …

NC employees can win bigger windfall in harassment suits

10/01/2007

In North Carolina, it’s not just sexual harassment lawsuits brought under federal law that you have to worry about. Your organization could face state tort law claims, such as “intentional infliction of emotional distress” or “negligent supervision” if an employee’s behavior is extreme enough and management doesn’t take steps to stop it …

To avoid safety violations, know NC’s top targets

10/01/2007

Last year, the North Carolina Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Division found more than 9,000 serious violations at nearly 5,000 workplaces. Here are the 10 most frequently cited serious violations in private-sector general industry, followed by the specific OSHA standard …

Disciplining employees under the modern employment laws

10/01/2007

Ask employers what their toughest challenge is, and they probably will mention discipline. It seems no one likes to play parent in the workplace. On the other hand, there’s no way to avoid it …

Reading personal mail at work

10/01/2007

Q. Several employees have complained that they received personal letters via our company’s regular mail system (not e-mail) that had been opened by someone else in our company. Can other employees or supervisors open and read personal mail sent to employees? …

How to prevent employees from abusing PTO leave

10/01/2007

A reader of our e-mail newsletter, HR Weekly, recently posed this question to the e-letter’s Q&A Forum section: “We allow employees to take paid time off (PTO) in hourly increments, but they often use PTO when running late in the morning or for unexpected ‘appointments.’ How can we get a rein on our PTO leave?” …

Is there a class action lurking in your employee handbook?

10/01/2007

Now may be a good time to review your employee handbook for potential big trouble. The problem: Because handbooks spell out policies that apply to many or all employees, they can be used to justify escalating a simple lawsuit into a class-action suit …

Cintas fined $2.78 million in clothes dryer death

10/01/2007

The U.S. Labor Department’s OSHA levied $2.78 million in penalties against Cincinnati-based Cintas Corp. after an employee at the company’s Tulsa, OK, plant fell into an industrial dryer and died. The employee was clearing a jam of wet laundry on a conveyor belt that carries laundry from the washer to the dryer when he fell …