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

Policies / Handbooks

3 free tools to perk up employee teamwork

03/01/2008

If your organization hasn’t moved beyond “reply all” e-mails as its sole means of online employee interaction, promote any of these three options to spark more interaction and productivity …

10 things HR can do to help their companies go ‘green’

03/01/2008

Everywhere you turn, something or someone is being promoted as “environmentally friendly.” U.S. employers are no different; they’re jumping into all kinds of green practices in a bid to improve their public images, boost employee morale/loyalty and potentially cut costs …

How to enforce a ‘No weapons’ policy

03/01/2008
Q. What does an employer need to do to keep licensed handgun owners from bringing guns onto its premises? …

Too hot to handle? Office romances need careful HR TLC

02/12/2008

Cupid’s arrow eventually flies into every workplace. Risks: Office romances can be disruptive and, even worse, open the door to legal problems. Action: Balance your need to reduce legal risks with a realistic view of employees’ lives. Stay away from trendy "love contracts."

Shoot down the legal threat from camera phones

02/05/2008

Cell phones with camera capabilities can expose your organization to legal problems: privacy claims, trade-secret vulnerabilities, employee theft and more. Used inappropriately, camera phones can violate employee and customer privacy. Your best action: Write, and consistently follow, a camera-phone policy and distribute it periodically.

Goes without saying, but say it anyway: No porn at work

02/01/2008

You would think it’s common sense, but apparently it’s not. While viewing pornography may be perfectly legal in one’s home (with some exceptions, such as that containing images of children), such viewing has absolutely no place at work. The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals consistently has ruled “the mere presence of pornography in a workplace can alter the ‘status’ of women” and may be objective proof of a hostile environment …

Do you have a ‘No lying’ policy? It could be a legal lifesaver

02/01/2008

If you don’t have one, consider adding a general honesty or misrepresentation clause to your employee handbook. Such a clause can come in handy when you are looking for a solid reason to discharge someone who just isn’t being upfront and honest with the company, but technically may not have violated a specific work rule …

Female police officer says drunken male cops treated better

02/01/2008

Christina Johnson, a police officer for Olmsted Township who was fired for crawling into a stranger’s car while highly intoxicated and then passing out, will have the chance to convince a jury that she suffered discrimination. Johnson was off duty during the episode, but was wearing her uniform sweater …

Armored car employee charged in $7.4 million heist

02/01/2008

Roger Lee Dillon, an employee of armored car company AT Systems International, allegedly coordinated a complicated heist from a company garage in Liberty late last year. Retail receipts from Thanksgiving weekend sales were the targets …

Wasn’t this covered in the Ten Commandments?

02/01/2008

Two employees of the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office have paid the price for violating a unique policy that forbids workers from committing adultery …