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

HR Management

Texas city provides lesson on background checks

08/01/2006

When the Grand Prairie parks department hired Damon Bryan as a maintenance worker, it asked him about his criminal background. Bryan told them he had a conviction for aggravated assault, but he left out the type of assault. He had been convicted of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl …

EAP hotline calls may trigger ADA, FMLA awareness

08/01/2006

Many employers offer employee assistance programs (EAPs) to help employees with personal problems. But be aware that if you communicate directly with counselors who take employees’ calls, you may trigger legal liabilities under both the ADA and the FMLA. That’s especially true if an EAP counselor suggests that the employee needs time off or some other accommodation …

Depositions: Plan, prepare and don’t babble

08/01/2006
The less said during a deposition, the better. You want to minimize the chance your words can be used against you. Follow these tips.

Lessons from the 2006 SHRM conference: Green M&Ms and other little motivational tools

08/01/2006

Execs talk a lot about external threats to their organization, but they often overlook the elephant in the room: a tuned-out work force that isn’t giving 100 percent.

Online tool helps workers earn back wages

08/01/2006

The Labor Department’s Wage & Hour Division launched a new Back Wage Employee Locator online tool to help people determine if they’re owed back wages as the result of an investigation …

New Pa. law restricts use of Social Security numbers

08/01/2006

Pennsylvania employers will have to go to greater lengths to keep employees’ and customers’ Social Security numbers private in the wake of new legislation signed by Gov. Rendell this summer …

Lessons from the 2006 SHRM conference: Metrics: Track each employee’s ‘Baseball card’ statistics

08/01/2006

On the back of each baseball card are the vital statistics that immediately tell you the player’s proficiency in various skills: hitting, fielding, etc. It would be great to have such cards on each of your employees. And, in a sense, you can, says Gary Giles, president of analytics provider ClarityMatters, which was recently acquired by Kronos …

Don’t break wage promises to visa holders

08/01/2006

Employers who rely on the expertise of foreign scientists, engineers and nurses would be wise to review the processes they use to recruit and pay employees under H-1B visas. The EEOC has taken a keen interest in whether promises made to induce foreign talent into the United States are being honored. And more visa holders are hiring lawyers and suing for broken promises …

Handling ‘No-Match’ letters: Heed new DHS guidance

08/01/2006

Under the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), employers must verify the employment eligibility of all new hires within three days of the date of employment. Both employer and employee must sign an I-9 form that lists the identifying documents the employee presented to verify his or her eligibility. The law is now enforced by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) …

Consider access to personnel file even if not required

08/01/2006

Q. We fired an employee based on an eyewitness account of theft. We documented that report and put it in the ex-employee’s personnel file. That person has now hired an attorney and asked to see the file. We feel that we have no obligation to respond. Do we have to turn it over without a subpoena? —E. I.