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

Policies / Handbooks

Employee returning from FMLA? Alter pay only in rare situations

07/01/2005
When employees return from FMLA leave, they’re entitled to their same or equivalent position, pay and working conditions. If you try to place someone in a lower paying or lower-prestige job, …

Jury duty: How to manage leave requests and pay issues

07/01/2005
THE LAW. No one is immune from jury duty. Even Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer was called for duty
in his Massachusetts hometown. Al-though Breyer was dismissed from the pool, …

Attack tardiness with progressive discipline

07/01/2005

Q. Several of our assistants are constantly late. What can we do to get them to come to work on time? —A.A., Virginia

Can you (and should you) refuse to hire smokers? Know the law

07/01/2005
Some of your employees may be a month into their New Year’s resolution to quit smoking. But what if you, as an organization, wanted to kick the habit in a different way—by refusing to hire employees that smoke?

Require hands-free phone usage in company vehicles

07/01/2005
Issue: More states are placing restrictions on when drivers (and which drivers) can use wireless devices while driving.
Risk: Your organization may be liable when distracted employees on cell phones …

Banning male employees’ long hair is OK

07/01/2005

Q. Can we require male employees’ hair be a certain length, or is that discrimination? Also, can we say male employees can’t have beards? —C.H., Illinois

Tighten policy to foil new identity-theft risks

06/01/2005
If your organization hasn’t taken identity theft seriously, here are two good reasons to start now: Starting June 1, federal law requires you to properly dispose
of employee background-check information …

You can obtain blanket consent for employee credit reports at any time

06/01/2005
Before you seek consumer credit or background reports on applicants, you must obtain their written consent and give them a clearly written disclosure form.
But what about when you investigate …

Feds launch crackdown on employers who defy safety rules

06/01/2005
The Bush administration has begun a multiagency effort to hunt down and prosecute the most flagrant violators of workplace safety.
Currently, workplace safety violations typically avoid criminal prosecution, even when …

Cut costs by challenging requests for intermittent FMLA leave

06/01/2005

Employees are becoming well versed in the FMLA game, and you’re paying the price.
Proof: Unscheduled intermittent FMLA leave now accounts for a sizable portion of all FMLA leave, says …