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Policies / Handbooks

Use an ‘accuracy statement’ to sniff out applicants’ lies

03/01/2005
Issue: Creating a legal basis to reject (or fire) people who lie on their job applications.
Benefit: Providing a “statement of accuracy” on applications gives you strong legal standing against …

Comply with the new ethics-training rules in 7 easy steps

03/01/2005
Issue: New federal guidelines require all organizations to establish an ethics-training program.
Benefit: By taking the lead on this issue, you’ll cut the organization’s liability risk and impress the brass. …

Don’t get snagged in OSHA’s beefed-up inspection machine

03/01/2005
Issue: OSHA “dramatically” increased the number of its most serious kind of violations that it handed out in 2004.
Risk: Negative inspection results can trigger big fines and sales-killing publicity. …

You can exclude vacation pay from ‘Regular rate’

03/01/2005

Q. When we are figuring employees’ base pay for overtime calculations, can we exclude their vacation pay? —R.J.D., South Dakota

The new legal risk of overworking bilingual employees

03/01/2005
Issue: Overburdening employees because of their language abilities.
Risk: Relying too heavily on bilingual employees could spark a national-origin bias lawsuit.
Action: Remind supervisors to be on guard against …

Never sign HR documents for employees

03/01/2005
As part of his age-bias lawsuit, James Halloran claimed that his employer’s HR director signed Halloran’s signature to the bottom of a negative performance review. At trial, the company admitted to …

Jobs must be ‘virtually identical’ (not similar) to bring equal-pay claim

02/01/2005
Don’t be afraid to set different salary levels for employees who hold the same title. Different pay for the same job title is fine as long as you can prove that …

Disaster relief: Go online for best donation info, sources

02/01/2005
As parts of south Asia struggle to recover from the Dec. 26 tsunami, U.S. companies began mobilizing in huge numbers to send money and supplies.
Among the examples: Posting letters …

Protect your company’s secrets … and take the credit

02/01/2005

Issue: U.S. employers lose nearly $60 billion each year due to trade-secret theft, but many still often overlook this risk.
Risk: Your organization can be ruined if competitors gain access …

Stop regular e-mail purges if a legal complaint flares up

02/01/2005
Issue: Your policy of periodically deleting business e-mail.
Risk: Courts could penalize your organization if it deletes e-mail messages that relate to a potential lawsuit.
Action: Alert IT to …