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HR Management

Add anti-Nepotism rule to your family of policies

06/01/2005

Q. Some employees have complained anonymously that an employee is receiving preferential treatment because she’s the wife of a manager. How can we defuse this situation? Should I transfer her to another warehouse? —B.B., New York

Sharpen your no-solicitation policy with precise language

06/01/2005
Issue: How to stop employees from promoting a union organizing campaign on company time.
Benefit: A correctly worded no-solicitation policy gives you the power to legally squash in-house organizing efforts. …

5 ways to keep mandatory overtime from boiling over

06/01/2005

Like most organizations, your organization probably needs to squeeze more productivity out of fewer employees these days. That may mean requiring some hourly employees to work overtime, even if they don’t want to. But, if handled incorrectly, mandatory overtime can smother morale, create management-employee tensions and spark legal disputes … 

Give employees a ‘grace period’ to spend FSA dollars

06/01/2005
The IRS announced last month that you can give employees an extra 21/2 months to spend money they’ve set aside in their flexible spending accounts (FSAs) for health care and dependent …

Summer’s here: Time is right for safety lapses and fraud

06/01/2005
As temperatures rise, so do two additional risks: 1. Safety. Summer months are traditionally the worst months for on-the-job accidents. That’s because the heat can impair employees’ judgment and more employees …

Don’t allow managers to issue hasty termination letters

06/01/2005
If you haven’t already, establish a policy that says HR and/or other senior executives must review supervisors’ termination proposals. The goal: Prevent supervisors from making legally dangerous firings out of anger, …

Don’t punish religious principles for non-job-related reasons

06/01/2005
Federal law says you must accommodate employees’ religious practices or beliefs unless doing so would cause an undue hardship on the employer.
The key question: What’s considered an “undue hardship” …

Don’t overlook insurance-company freebies

06/01/2005
Many insurers offer free services that can cut your costs or make your business safer. Examples: Some offer free safety inspections and risk-management analysis. Others provide free classes or training materials …

Shift assignment is your call, not the employee’s

05/01/2005

Q. We’re looking to switch an employee to a different shift, which will better serve the entire shift. Can we force an employee to change shifts even if he’s not interested? —K.C., New York

5 ways to improve your shift-work schedule

05/01/2005
Issue: The night-shift population is rising, and shift workers are logging more overtime hours.
Risk: Those dual trends damage productivity, causing more accidents and hurting employees’ health, all of which …