Personnel Files

HR Specialist Editors Bring You the Best from SHRM Chicago

06/24/2008

For a week each year, the Society for Human Resource Management’s Annual Conference becomes the center of the HR world. HR Specialist editors have joined 13,000 of our peers in Chicago this week for four days of professional development covering HR’s hottest topics and presented by the profession’s leading experts. Here’s some of the best from the world’s biggest HR conference.

The wisdom of correcting I-9s

06/10/2008

Q. As the HR person at our company, I just recently concluded an internal audit of the Form I-9s that we have on file. I am concerned that many of those forms may be incorrectly filled out. Should I just throw them all out and complete new Form I-9s for our employees? …

Use performance evaluations to pinpoint problems—And follow up

06/09/2008

There’s no point in completing performance evaluations and suggesting areas in which employees could improve if no one follows up. The best approach is to schedule an interim review for an employee who needs improvement. Then tell him what he needs to do before the next review …

Personnel records a mess? Clean them up now

06/04/2008

How carefully do you maintain your company’s personnel files? If they are a mess and don’t include relevant information such as applications, set aside time now to straighten them out! Courts are increasingly ordering employers being sued for discrimination to turn over any arguably related files …

El Paso commissioners withdraw support for immigration raids

05/30/2008

On May 5, El Paso County officials adopted a resolution calling for an end to workplace immigration raids until Congress passes comprehensive immigration reform legislation. The “Rights and Justice for Immigrant Workers” resolution calls for eliminating employer sanctions and no-match letters …

Follow These 5 Rules for Documenting HR Decision-Making

05/27/2008

The best way to prevent lawsuits or to get a quick dismissal of unfounded charges is to document every employment decision carefully. Following these five simple rules can convince judges and juries that your HR decision-making is legit, above board and fully in line with the law.

Track HR decisions to show discipline wasn’t harassment

05/23/2008

The best way to prevent lawsuits or to get a quick dismissal of unfounded charges is to document every employment decision carefully. You and your staff should be able to show exactly when a decision was made, who made it and what the basis for the decision was …

Do we have to hand over personnel file to employee we fired?

05/23/2008

Q. We fired an employee based on an eyewitness account of theft. We documented that report and put it in the former 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?

Confused about record-Keeping? DOL unveils online aid

05/22/2008

The U.S. Department of Labor last month debuted the FirstStep Recordkeeping, Reporting and Notices Advisor, an online tool that helps employers determine which record-keeping and notice laws apply to them …

Should we now be using the new I-9 Forms to document worker eligibility?

05/16/2008

Q. Our HR department is using I-9 forms from several years ago. At what point should we use the new revised form issued by the federal government? …