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Policies / Handbooks

Kroger needed a policy for a rainy day

11/08/2022
Kroger has settled a religious bias claim for $180,000. Two religious employees in Arkansas refused to wear the grocery chain’s rainbow heart logo on their aprons because they claimed the rainbow represented support for LGBTQ people and politics, which they opposed on religious grounds.

Sexual harassment: This employer did everything right

10/26/2022
Fortunately for the defendant-employer in this case, it had an effective policy and made it available to employees (including the plaintiffs) in various ways.

Policy can end pay for unused vacation days

10/25/2022
You cannot withhold unused vacation pay, but there’s a way to get employees to forfeit unused vacation days.

One job at a time, please

10/25/2022
Moonlighting, or working a second job, has always existed as a feature of the after-hours workplace. But computers and remote work have brought the temptation to work two or even three jobs into the daylight.

Smile! Your business is on TikTok!

10/25/2022
In an age when virtually every aspect of our lives is potentially captured on camera, employees uploading videos from the office was inevitable, especially if they belong to the “social media generation.” Your policies must encompass these infractions.

The case for behavioral rules

10/20/2022
If you don’t have behavioral rules to guide employees or don’t enforce the current ones, you are missing an opportunity to discipline workers appropriately when they cross behavioral lines.

Bar offensive speech from social media

10/13/2022
We live in the era of social media, where a shared opinion can quickly spread from a handful of contacts to millions. A post some view as offensive can have immediate consequences, turning into a public relations nightmare for the poster’s employer.

Paying attention to attendance policies

09/29/2022
Assuring that workers show up for their scheduled shifts is crucial. one popular way is through a no-fault attendance policy that punishes unplanned absences beyond those protected by the FMLA, the ADA and the company’s vacation and sick time policies. But such policies can backfire.

Off-duty marijuana use off limits in California

09/28/2022
When California rings in the New Year in 2024, employers will be prohibited from discharging employees or refusing to hire individuals based on their off-duty use of marijuana.

Here’s what happens when your managers don’t follow your written call-out policies

09/22/2022
Under the Family and Medical Leave Act, an employer can insist that employees comply with the company’s “usual and customary” absentee notice procedures. Often those call-out procedures are part of written leave and attendance policies. But, as one company found out the hard way, “usual and customary” absentee notice can transcend formal policies and procedures when managers bend the rules.