Policies / Handbooks

Don’t ban staff use of social media–exploit it

08/11/2010

Matt Kaiser, VP of NAS Recruitment Communication, encourages employers to create policies and procedures to help employees take advantage of social media. “Your employees are going to be the best way to build your powerful employee brand,” said Kaiser. “Give employees advice on what to do—not just what not to do.…”

Supreme Court expands time to sue over policies with disparate impact

08/06/2010

There may be a ticking time bomb lurking in your employment policies and practices. It may go off at any time, when you least expect it. During its most recent term, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that employers can be held liable upon the use of employment practices that have a disparate impact on employees, no matter how long ago the challenged practice was adopted.

Waiver in handbook prevents contract formation

08/06/2010

Make sure your employee handbook includes a disclaimer specifying that the handbook is not a contract. Then have employees sign that disclaimer, acknowledging that they’ve read it. That way, you won’t accidentally create an employment contract.

Philly firefighters settle suit over racist web posting

07/27/2010

A group of black Philadelphia firefighters known as Club Valients and the NAACP have settled their lawsuit against the city of Philadelphia concerning racist comments that appeared on the web site of International Association of Fire Fighters Local 22.

It’s time to review your e-monitoring policies

07/27/2010

A long-awaited Supreme Court ruling has reiterated the importance of all employers to draft and enforce a comprehensive electronic communications policy governing how employees can use e-mail, the Internet, cell phones and text services.

May we check an employee message sent from work to his personal e-mail?

07/23/2010

Q. One of our sales managers thinks a salesperson has been e-mailing confidential customer information to his personal e-mail address. Can we review the salesperson’s sent-messages file on the company’s e-mail server to see what he has been sending out?

Text messages and employee privacy: The Supreme Court weighs in

07/20/2010

The U.S. Supreme Court has held that a police department’s search of an officer’s text messages was reasonable and didn’t violate the officer’s Fourth Amendment rights. The court said that even if the officer had a reasonable expectation of privacy in his text messages, the search was motivated by a legitimate work-related purpose and was not excessive in scope.

Feds propose new HIPAA privacy rules

07/13/2010

The Department of Health and Human Services has proposed new rules to strengthen HIPAA’s confidentiality and security measures. While your health insurance carrier will have primary responsibility for compliance, you need to be able to answer employees’ questions about their new privacy rights.

New moms get mentors, extra time off at PwC

07/13/2010

PricewaterhouseCoopers is working to retain its working women by pairing them with other PwC moms and then allowing them to take up to five years off after a birth. “Mentor Moms” connects each new mother or mother-to-be with a colleague in her regional office who also is a working mom. Mentors offer support and guidance about the transition from maternity leave back to work.

When you learn of possible harassment, investigate promptly, take fast action

07/09/2010

Employers that act fast when an employee complains about any form of harassment can almost always salvage what would otherwise be a very bad situation. The key is prompt investigation—followed by equally fast and decisive action if it turns out the complaint has merit.