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Policies / Handbooks

Google it! 7 hiring and retention tips from Silicon Valley’s best

06/24/2008
When you google “best places to work,” you’re sure to find a link to Google itself. The search engine giant—91 million lookups per day—is a perpetual contender for the No. 1 spot on lists that rank great employers. Google’s VP for "people operations" tells how the company stays on top with innovative hiring, retention and collaboration strategies.

How to conduct a 30-minute employee handbook audit

06/24/2008
If your employee handbook has been gathering dust, now’s the time to update it. Start by doing a quick audit. Spend a half-hour today ensuring your handbook meets these six criteria.

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.

Can we search an employee’s car if we think she’s using drugs at work?

06/17/2008
Q. We suspect an employee has been getting high at work. Over the past two weeks, co-workers have reported that the employee’s pupils were dilated and her speech was slurred. She stares out the window for extended periods of time, she fell while walking down the hall, her appearance is disheveled, and she takes multiple “rest breaks” to go to her car throughout the day. We want to search the employee’s car, but she refuses to let us. Can we search her car anyway? …

UAW, Caterpillar workers sue for the right to smoke

06/11/2008
The United Auto Workers (UAW) has filed an unfair labor practice charge against Caterpillar Inc., claiming the company has no right to ban smoking without negotiating the terms in collective bargaining. Peoria-based Caterpillar banned smoking in all its U.S. facilities effective June 1…

Mission Foods fires Muslim women over dress code

06/10/2008
Mission Foods of New Brighton dismissed six Somali women for refusing to wear uniforms instead of their traditional loosefitting skirts and scarves. The women refused to comply with a new dress code requiring trousers and shirts, which are considered immodest by Islamic standards …

Dining-Out dogs take precedence over illegal immigrants

06/10/2008
The 2008 session of the Minnesota Legislature closed without hearings on any illegal immigration bills, despite Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s calls earlier this year for a crackdown. “We had time to debate whether dogs should be allowed to eat in cafés … But we didn’t have time to stop identity theft or human trafficking,” House Minority Leader Marty Seifert groused …

DOCC not responsible for employees’ racist remarks

06/10/2008
A court has ruled that the Hennepin County Department of Community Corrections (DOCC) did more than enough to address two employees’ complaints about civil rights violations …

Identity theft and liability: How to reduce the risks facing your business

06/10/2008
How safe is the confidential customer information your company keeps? The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse says that, since February 2005, the personal information of 88 million people has been compromised by data security breaches at companies or government agencies …

E-Mail policies and the NLRA

06/10/2008
Q. I work in the HR department of a unionized company, and our CEO wants me to draw up an employee e-mail use policy. Can I restrict personal e-mail use without violating the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)? …