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Policies / Handbooks

Employee feedback helps revamp parental leave policy

10/01/2006

When Rob Keeling, director of diversity at Capital One, wanted to improve the McLean, Va.-based credit-card company’s parental leave policy, he didn’t have to look far for suggestions. The company’s female employees, through their employee network, told him what to do …

Mandatory sabbaticals help retain call center staff

10/01/2006

Employees who celebrate their sixth anniversary at ServiceNet, a Jeffersonville, Ind., warranty service company, don’t get lapel pins to commemorate the occasion. They receive alarm clocks. Each clock counts down the year until the company boots the employee out the door … for a mandatory paid sabbatical …

Insubordination policy trumps progressive discipline

10/01/2006

Many employers who have progressive discipline and no-fault attendance programs believe they must stick to progressive discipline for every attendance infraction. But that’s not so …

Go After ‘In-House Hackers’ Using State and Federal Law

10/01/2006

The so-called paperless society ushered in by the computer age may mean fewer file cabinets and storage rooms full of paper records, but storing company records on hard drives has its own set of problems …

No federal gay-Bias law, but take note of state, Local rules

10/01/2006

While Title VII makes it illegal to discriminate on the basis of race, gender, religion, age or disability, no federal law explicitly says that you can’t fire someone just because the person is gay …

Domestic violence and employees: Your role, Responsibility

10/01/2006

Domestic violence isn’t always domestic. It comes to the workplace as lost productivity, excessive absenteeism, employee depression, increased health costs and, in the worst-case scenario, as violence at the workplace …

Put a lid on loud talking in the workplace

10/01/2006

Thirty-two percent of people surveyed by Harris Interactive said "people talking loudly at work" is one of their biggest pet peeves …

Your workplace: Is it ready for an emergency?

10/01/2006

While 88 percent of smaller businesses agree that it makes sense to have a business-continuity plan, only 39 percent actually have one, according to a new Ad Council survey …

Housing grants help employees reduce their commutes

09/01/2006

While some Baltimore residents suffer through a one- or two-hour commute every morning, employees at Johns Hopkins University are sleeping a little later. Since the university began participating in Baltimore’s "Live Near Your Work" program in 1998, about 220 employees have received $2,000 grants to buy homes close to the university’s three campuses …

‘Cool’ music company creates transition plan for new moms

09/01/2006

Detroit-based music company, Handleman Co., hosts impromptu concerts in the lobby and gives free CDs to employees. Such perks landed the firm on a list of 60 "Cool Places to Work" in Michigan. But cool wasn’t cutting it for the company’s working moms, who wanted more flexibility after having babies …