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Policies / Handbooks

To prevent retaliation claim, check back within weeks following employee’s complaint

04/01/2007

Employees who come to HR with discrimination complaints may already have talked to a lawyer. They may be building a case and just waiting for someone to make a mistake. It’s your job to make sure that doesn’t happen …

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 …