Policies / Handbooks

Employee handbooks: Avoid the 12 most common, costly mistakes

10/05/2012

Employment law attorneys point to a dozen common employee handbook mistakes that cause employers their biggest headaches. If you want to make a plaintiff’s attorney salivate, show him or her an employee handbook that involves any of these issues:

Curing absenteeism: A 12-step program

10/05/2012

With the recession easing, employees are feeling secure enough in their jobs to start missing more days at work. Here are a dozen ways to keep employees coming to work as scheduled, reserving sick leave for health problems—not as a catch-all bank of time off.

She’s violating the dress code! Now what?

10/03/2012

Do some of your employees emphasize the “casual” in your business-casual dress code? It’s best for managers and HR to step in early on these situations before they become major distractions or even legal issues. But what exactly should you say?

Clear policy, training: Your best defenses against co-worker harassment lawsuits

10/02/2012

Is your sexual harassment policy up-to-date? If it has been gathering dust and is largely ignored, you are creating possible co-worker sexual harassment liability.

What should we do? Our work requires talking on cellphones while driving

09/26/2012

Q. The animal care officers who work for us spend 80% of their time driving and responding to rescue calls via cellphone. Requiring them to pull off the road while talking on their phones wouldn’t work. Is there another way to limit our liability?

You can’t say that! Or can you? Discussing politics in the workplace

09/26/2012

Election season often increases the volume and vociferousness of political conversations. Widening ideological gulfs, dissected and fueled by pundits, have made politics seem like a contact sport more than ever. While some political activities can be prohibited in the workplace, some actions are protected.

Can we implement a civility code that prohibits employees from name-calling?

09/20/2012

Q. I’d like to institute a civility code that goes beyond the basic racial and sexual slurs to include any name-calling that is demeaning, crude or rude. What do you suggest as punishment?

Smart telework options can reduce absenteeism

09/20/2012

Telework challenges businesses to ensure that remote employees are working when they’re supposed to be. Yet it’s also a way to curb absenteeism. Here are examples of what works, from employers that have fully integrated telework into their operations:

What should we do about consensual relationship between manager and subordinate?

09/17/2012

Q. We just found out that one of our managers is having a consensual sexual relationship with someone who reports directly to him. If we confirm with the subordinate that she believes the relationship is consensual, do we need to do anything else?

Can you fire an employee for smelling like tobacco smoke?