Employee Relations

Target misses mark with multicultural training

07/29/2013

Minneapolis-based retailer Target is scrambling to explain a training document that surfaced at one of its Northern California distribution centers. The document purports to tell supervisors how to interact with Hispanic employees—and in the process betrays some offensive stereotypes.

Spur on the brainstorm of the century

07/25/2013

You can help your organization’s brainstorming sessions soar to new creative heights simply by posting these “Rules of Engagement” for the group to follow.

‘Lunch Roulette’ app is a co-worker matchmaker

07/25/2013

Sociable employees of Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. never have to eat lunch alone, thanks to a new mobile app that connects co-workers who might otherwise never meet. After a BIPI social media strategist found himself without anyone to sit with in the company cafeteria in Connecticut, he and a colleague created Lunch Roulette.

Court points way toward tracking employees with GPS

07/24/2013

A recent New York Court of Appeals case offers guidance to employers that want to slap GPS devices on employees’ cars to monitor their activities.

Law firm employee convicted of true copycat crime

07/23/2013

A New York City man is headed to prison after being convicted of selling his employer’s copier toner on the black market.

Annual reviews for part-timers: Are they required?

07/22/2013

Q. Are annual performance appraisals required for our part-time employees? — Pamela, West Virginia

Employee won’t cooperate with investigation? That’s legitimate grounds for discharge

07/17/2013

You can reasonably expect employees to cooperate with internal investigations so you can get all the facts and make well-informed decisions. You can and should discipline workers who won’t assist.

Zip it! Keep all investigations confidential

07/17/2013

Employees who participate in internal investigations into discrimination charges are protected from retaliation. That’s why it’s good policy to keep investigations confidential. Don’t divulge the names of cooperating employees to anyone who doesn’t need to know.

Don’t worry a somewhat negative performance review will cost you a lawsuit

07/09/2013

Here’s one less thing to worry about when preparing performance reviews: Employees can’t use a poor review as an excuse to sue unless they can show it affected their job in some significant way, such as making the employee ineligible for a promotion.

Can we ban moonlighting?

07/08/2013

Q. We have an employee who recently started working a second job. We currently don’t have a rule against moonlighting, but now he frequently comes in late and tired. It’s really affecting his work. Are we legally entitled to ban second jobs?