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Training

Courts look at how you train, not just if

08/01/2005
Hopefully, reading about multimillion-dollar lawsuit verdicts has motivated you to implement anti-harassment and discrimination employee training. But how good is the training you’re giving? It’s a question worth asking.
Reason: …

2005 SHRM conference

08/01/2005
?’Winging it’ during interviews poses double danger
Using unstructured, “tell me about yourself” questions during
job interviews not only opens you to discrimination claims, it often results in poor …

EEOC following up on promise to crack down on Hispanic bias

07/01/2005
The EEOC announced in 2003 that it would work to counteract workplace discrimination against Hispanic employees, and the agency is making good on its promise.
EEOC chief Cari Dominquez, who …

Train managers how to spot bias and take complaints

07/01/2005
Issue: Employers can be liable for sexual harassment if they “knew or should have known” about it but failed to act.
Risk: Courts increasingly say you “know” of harassment once …

Justify your training proposals with ROI calculations

07/01/2005
Issue: Executives are reluctant to approve training unless they can prove that it will pay for itself many times over.
Benefit: By providing the CEO with legitimate return-on-investment (ROI) figures, …

Some manager socializing could spark bias lawsuits

07/01/2005
Issue: Supervisors may feel more comfortable with employees from one gender or the other.
Risk: If they allow those relationships to affect their employment decisions, supervisors could run afoul of …

Review all handouts for legal bombshells

06/01/2005
You can’t personally review every book, video or training material that supervisors distribute to employees. But it’s wise to review as much of those materials as possible for appropriateness and legally …

Don’t allow managers to issue hasty termination letters

06/01/2005
If you haven’t already, establish a policy that says HR and/or other senior executives must review supervisors’ termination proposals. The goal: Prevent supervisors from making legally dangerous firings out of anger, …

Don’t punish religious principles for non-job-related reasons

06/01/2005
Federal law says you must accommodate employees’ religious practices or beliefs unless doing so would cause an undue hardship on the employer.
The key question: What’s considered an “undue hardship” …

Encourage employee language skills the legally safe way

06/01/2005
Nearly half of employers say they make employee diversity a competitive selling point for their organizations, according to a new Novations survey of 1,780 HR execs and senior managers.
Still, …