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

Policies / Handbooks

Ignoring Harassment Policy Can Lead to Double-Trouble

04/01/2007

Texas employees and their attorneys have found a way around the federal caps on damages in sexual-harassment cases. Instead of going to federal court, plaintiffs sue in Texas state courts under the Texas Labor Code and add claims of negligent hiring, retention and supervision …

Seminary President Faces Suit Over ‘No-Women-in-Charge’ Rule

04/01/2007

Dr. Sheri Klouda taught biblical Hebrew at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth for seven years. Her tenure-track position, however, apparently derailed when a new president took over the seminary …

Cell phone policies: Don’t have one? Dial one up today

04/01/2007

The best defense to a cell-phone liability claim is a comprehensive electronic communications devices policy …

It’s harder for staff to block discipline using ‘Junk’ claims

04/01/2007

The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD) makes it illegal to retaliate against employees simply because they’ve filed a discrimination complaint. Employees know this law. So, all too often, employees who are having trouble at work file an internal complaint as a preemptive strike …

Make sure absence policy doesn’t clash with FMLA

04/01/2007

Warning: If you terminate employees who take more than 12 weeks off in a given period, you may be violating the FMLA even if you allow employees their full FMLA allotment of 12 weeks unpaid leave …

The fine line between humor and harassment in Passaic County

04/01/2007

How do you know where to draw the line between workplace humor and harassment? The answer: You don’t get to make that choice. Harassment, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. And it begins when somebody decides they’ve had enough of the “jokes” …

Should you be allowed to ban guns from employees’ cars?

04/01/2007

The Georgia House and Senate once again are considering bills that would prohibit employers from banning guns from company parking lots …

You can ban employee smoking, but can you ban smokers?

04/01/2007

Employers are always looking for ways to cut health care costs … and smoking and overweight employees may seem like ripe targets for change …

Swift response is key to derailing harassment claim

04/01/2007

When a co-worker launches a harassment campaign, you must act fast or risk a hostile-environment lawsuit. That means all your managers must know the drill to follow the moment they get wind of harassment …

How to Set Reasonable Call-In Rules for Absences

04/01/2007

For many employers, absenteeism is a constant problem. You know you must give employees some slack, especially for family and medical emergencies and to accommodate disabilities that sometimes flare up. But, to make sure the work gets done, you need to know who’s going to show up and who isn’t …