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Policies / Handbooks

Set harassment policies employees can understand and follow

01/01/2008

The best—quite possibly the only—protection employers have against losing a sexual harassment lawsuit is an effective sexual harassment policy. But a policy isn’t worth the paper it’s written on if employees don’t know about it or find it hard to use …

FBI says Atlanta police failed to pursue child pornographer

01/01/2008

The FBI has charged Terrill Crane, the husband of Atlanta police sergeant Tanya Crane, with paying more than a dozen underage girls to have sex with him. Worse, the FBI says it has evidence that the Atlanta Police Department first learned about the alleged crimes seven years ago …

Valdosta Tech president swept up in card abuse audit

01/01/2008

Robert Abene, president of Valdosta Technical College, resigned days after his son was arrested on charges of misusing a state-issued credit card. Abene said he was resigning to focus on his family …

OMG, TWD is nothing to LOL about; Set a policy to stop ‘Texting while driving’

01/01/2008

Even if you already have a policy that bans chatting on cell phones while driving on company business—or at least requires hands-free devices—you should prohibit texting or surfing the web while driving, too. Train your staff and use e-mail reminders …

Don’t discount cost of harassment lawsuit—Even if you win

01/01/2008

Lots of employers win sexual harassment lawsuits, but not until they have had to air their dirty laundry in public—and pay for the privilege, too. That’s one reason to insist on a professional workplace free of sexual innuendo and harassing behavior. HR performs one of its most valuable services when it impresses on management the high cost of winning a sexual harassment lawsuit …

Can disclaimers keep handbooks from becoming employment contracts?

01/01/2008

Q. Are disclaimers in employee handbooks valid in North Carolina? …

Can we search employees’ work areas while investigating a string of thefts?

01/01/2008

Q. I work for an Internet company with about 50 other employees. Recently, there have been several complaints around the office about theft of personal property. The problem has become a distraction in the workplace and I was asked to investigate the incidents.

Our employee manual does not have any policies prohibiting theft of personal property, and there are no notices that warn employees that their work areas may be searched. What right does my company have to search a suspected employee’s work space and personal items to try to locate property not owned or related to my company? …

The 10 rules every HR pro must know

01/01/2008

Lawsuits may be inevitable in today’s litigious society, but losing them is not. Follow these 10 rules to prevent the most common employment-related lawsuits—or at least increase your chances of winning them.

Romance at the office, liability later?

01/01/2008

Q. At a recent office get-together, two members of my staff announced they were officially dating. Our company has a strict policy that prohibits dating between a supervisor and a direct subordinate, but our handbook is silent as to relationships such as this one between co-workers. Are there any steps I should take to protect the company from liability? …

Court: Tailor complaint procedure to ‘Average’ worker

01/01/2008

When was the last time you read your company’s harassment reporting procedures? Could all employees in your organization understand how—and with whom—to file a complaint? It’s important to ask these questions in the wake of a new court ruling that should give you incentive to cut the legalese and confusion out of your reporting procedures …