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HR Management

Examine your promotion policy for reverse discrimination

05/01/2002
Reason: In a closely watched case, a federal court struck down the U.S. Army’s officer promotion process on the grounds it discriminates against white men. The policy notes past discrimination against …

Root out violent applicants by asking right questions

05/01/2002
Sept. 11 put a new kind of workplace violence on the radar screen, but the threat of verbal and physical attacks by co-workers, customers and spouses is still just as pressing …

FMLA Won’t Cover Tardiness

05/01/2002

Q. Some of our employees routinely ask to use FMLA when they are five, 10 or 15 minutes late. It creates a scheduling nightmare and hurts morale. Does FMLA cover employees who are consistently tardy for work? —M.P., Florida

New risk: Promotion without pay

05/01/2002
After her male supervisor retired, Lynda Hunt was promised a raise and a new job title if she’d take on some of her ex-supervisor’s duties. She agreed and began training, disciplining …

React fast, firmly to harassment; courts will reward your judgment

05/01/2002
A political cover-up usually gets people in bigger trouble than the crime itself. The same is true in the workplace. Trying to sweep employee misbehavior under the rug will only dig …

Sept. 11 attacks affecting attitudes, rulings of juries

04/01/2002
Companies facing jury trials in the near future need to understand that jury attitudes have shifted since the Sept. 11 attacks, says a report by the American Bar Association. …

Quality checks of phone calls don’t give you license to eavesdrop

04/01/2002
An administrative sales assistant at an insurance agency quit after learning that her personal phone calls were being monitored and recorded by her company through a hidden tape recorder. …

Direct employee retirement inquiries to new Labor hotline

04/01/2002
In the wake of the Enron debacle, the U.S. Labor Department has introduced a new toll-free number, (866) 275-7922, for companies and employees who have questions about their retirement …

HIPAA health care privacy rules: They do apply to you

04/01/2002
It’s a common misconception: Employers have been lulled into thinking that the strict privacy provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) apply only to health care providers …

Banning Unsolicited Résumés

04/01/2002

Q. Our company doesn’t want to consider unsolicited résumés as applicants. We are trying to come up with a legally sound definition for “applicant” so we can write an official policy. —H.D., Wisconsin