Policies / Handbooks

Use clear policy to thwart harassment claims

03/07/2013

One of the best ways to fight hostile work environment claims: a handbook with a strong sexual harassment policy that shows employees exactly how they should report problems.

We’re starting a wellness program: Any caveats?

02/20/2013

Q. In an effort to encourage our employees to make healthy lifestyle choices, we plan to offer an employee wellness program starting this summer. Is there anything we need to be careful about?

Romance policies that work–even with ‘irresistible’ employees

02/20/2013

Workplace romance has long been the bane of the HR profession. A December 2012 Iowa Supreme Court decision in Nelson v. Knight has further roiled the workplace romance waters by holding that an employer could terminate an employee for being “irresistible.”

Just 3 days of harassment can indeed create a hostile work environment

02/08/2013

Usually, courts considering whether an employee worked in a sexually hostile environment will look at a period of weeks, months or years to assess whether the alleged harassment was “severe and pervasive” enough to become truly hostile. But sometimes just a few days will do the trick.

Employee Twitter accounts: Who really owns the followers?

02/07/2013

With people generating more than 340 million tweets daily, Twitter has become a social media phenomenon … and an employment liability risk. One important issue: Who owns an employee’s Twitter handle? And if your employees post on their work-related Twitter accounts, can they “take” the followers when they leave?

Bank of America cutting back flex, work-at-home positions

02/01/2013

Charlotte-based Bank of America has started curtailing its popular work-from-home program called “My Work”. Employee usage has risen steadily over the years, but now Bank of America is cutting back as part of a larger cost-cutting move called Project New BAC.

Training, strong policies key to keeping workplace harassment-free

01/25/2013

No doubt your company has a sexual harassment policy in place. However, it may have been drafted long ago and may have been long ignored by supervisors and subordinates alike. If you suspect this is the case, it’s time to dust off the document, review it and start making sure all your supervisors and managers take it seriously.

New California rules protect employees’ right to wear religious garb

01/22/2013

The start of the New Year saw the enactment of several new California employment laws, including one that requires accommodation of employees’ religious dress and grooming needs.

Ensure automatic firing policy is understood

01/22/2013

Treating a disabled employee even a little differently than others can spell big trouble. That even applies to seemingly minor differences such as telling one employee in advance about an automatic termination policy, but not informing a disabled employee about the rule.

Can we set different dress codes for each department?

01/17/2013

Q. We are a retail company with about 200 employees. We have six different departments. The supervisors are not agreeing on an overall dress code. They wondered if there’s any legal risk in having each department make and follow its own dress code. (Everyone works in the same office space.)