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

HR Management

Attendance policy: Control absenteeism without breaking the law

04/01/2004
THE LAW. Regular attendance is obviously a key job function for most of your employees. But despite your freedom to set and enforce attendance rules, you also face key legal …

Carefully Craft Policy to Avoid Paid-Leave ‘Stacking’

04/01/2004

Q. A pregnant employee eligible for FMLA wants to take the 12 weeks of leave. Our leave policy says an employee on FMLA must first use his or her sick, vacation and personal leave, in that order, before the leave is unpaid. In this case, the employee has enough sick leave for the 12 weeks. But should she be allowed to use sick leave for the entire 12 weeks? Is this in our best interest? —M.P., Texas

Anti-bias and sex-harassment training: a 5-point checklist

04/01/2004
Issue: Failing to train employees on discrimination and harassment can prove a costly mistake, but so is training them the wrong way. Benefit: Effective and ongoing training signals your “good-faith” …

You’re free to set paid-Holiday policy

04/01/2004

Q. Can our company freely change its paid-holiday policy? Are we bound by certain federal or state laws on holiday pay, for instance? —D.C., Oklahoma

Employee ‘odor policy’ must pass the smell test

04/01/2004
Issue: Can you tell an employee to take a bath? Risk: You risk a discrimination claim because, unlike other grooming-policy issues, odor lies in the eye (or nose) of the …

Don’t make new hires wait long to be 401(k)-eligible

04/01/2004
Your competitors are shortening the length of time that new employees are eligible to participate in the 401(k) plan. More than half (51 percent) of companies now allow 401(k) participation within …

It pays to promote from within

04/01/2004
Outside hires typically take twice as long to reach full productivity as in-house hires, according to a study by Mellon’s Human Resources & Investor Solutions Service. The study says executives hired …

Post injury/illness summary until April 30 this year

03/01/2004
Between Feb. 1 and April 30, many U.S. employers must post a summary of the number of job-related injuries and illnesses that occurred in their workplace last year. Your organization can …

Shelter yourself from gathering storm of ERISA claims

03/01/2004
Issue: Spurred by corporate retirement-fund scandals, the federal government is stepping up its monitoring of benefit plans under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). Risk: In 2003, …

You can monitor workers’ e-mail, but notify them first

03/01/2004
Employees won’t sue you for snooping in their e-mail if you make it clear (early and often) that it’s not their e-mail. It’s your property, and you hold the right to …