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Policies / Handbooks

Fighting a unionization effort: do’s and don’ts

03/01/2006

Union membership has fallen dramatically in recent decades, but the labor movement is far from dead. The biggest change: In 2005, the breakaway "Change to Win" movement seized control over one-third of the powerful AFL-CIO’s unions. Change to Win lured the unions away by promising to shift the focus from political activism to organizing as many U.S. employers as possible. Is your business next? …

Beware of a growing risk: harassment by customers

03/01/2006

Too many employers think harassment is a problem only when it’s an employee-on-employee thing. Recent court rulings prove that you can be held liable even when outsiders harass your employees. Taking action may cost you a customer, but courts say defending employees must come first …

Plan Ahead for Take-the-Kids-to-Work Day: April 27

03/01/2006

Annually, the fourth Thursday in April (April 27 this year) is Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day, hosted by the Ms. Foundation for Women. To head off requests and confusion about whether/when the kids can come, establish some ground rules …

EEOC Targeting Cases of Years-Old Discrimination

02/01/2006

Don’t think that an employee who quietly suffers name-calling for years can’t sue. Courts and the EEOC won’t be swayed by your argument that "he put up with it for 20 years, so how bad could it have been?" …

Beware false promises in handbooks; explain ‘what,’ not ‘why’

02/01/2006

Just the facts, ma’am. Your employee handbooks should clearly state your organization’s rules and benefits without including any excess or superfluous language. If you embellish the document with needless explanations, you may end up eating your words …

Use-It-or-Lose-It Sick Leave Pushes Absence Costs Higher

02/01/2006

Employers’ costs for last-minute no-show employees continue to climb. A recent CCH survey found that the average per-employee cost of unscheduled absences rose to $660 per employee in 2005, up from $610 in 2004 …

Interpret Military Leave Law in Most Employee-Friendly Way

02/01/2006

Due to widespread confusion over the federal military leave law, the Labor Department issued its first regulations that try to clarify the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act …

Office romance: Don’t ban it; manage it the right way

02/01/2006

Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act prohibits employment discrimination based on a person’s sex. When office romances sour, scorned lovers often use this law to allege that their former lover was a sexual harasser …

Set a clear policy on confidential talks with employees

02/01/2006

Should you guarantee employees confidentiality when they voice complaints to you or to supervisors? Blanket promises of confidentiality could blow up in your face; some laws require you to report illegal or unethical conduct …

Popularity of 401(k) plans continues to grow

02/01/2006

In the past two decades, 401(k) plans have become the dominant retirement plan offered by employers. In fact, 64 percent of plan sponsors responding to a recent Hewitt survey said a 401(k) accounts for their organization’s primary retirement-savings program …