• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Employee Relations

AT&T focuses on Hispanic diversity

02/20/2012

As part of its diversity effort, AT&T has beefed up its efforts to include Hispanic employees at all levels of its business. Its program includes building a diverse workforce—Hispanics account for 12% of AT&T employees.

OSHA’s Whistle-Blower Program

02/18/2012

HR Law 101:  OSHA’s special whistle-blower program is designed to protect workers who report employer wrongdoing or dangerous conditions. Under the program, employers may not retaliate or discriminate against workers who file complaints with OSHA …

6 ways–beyond ‘fixing’ the employees–to improve productivity

02/17/2012
When productivity dips, it seems logical to blame employees for not engaging in the job. But that might not be what’s going on. The problem: Identifying what that “something” is that’s sapping productivity—and getting rid of it. Six factors to examine:

Policies are key to handling workplace romance

02/14/2012
Romance may be in the air at your workplace this Valentine’s Day. A 2011 survey by CareerBuilder.com found that 40% of those polled said they have dated a co-worker. But while Cupid shoots arrows, workplace romances often blow up in a liability minefield.

Can dermatologist tell worker to tone down the tan?

02/06/2012
Q. We’re a dermatology practice and one of our new em­­ployees is excessive with tanning. She has a dark tan and sometimes is sunburned. We promote the opposite of what she does. She also wears tight low-cut tops. Are we allowed to say something in both regards?

Pay cut for poor work? Document carefully

02/03/2012
If an employee isn’t working as hard as you expect, reducing his pay might conceivably provide enough of a kick in the pants that he’ll pick up the pace. As long as you carefully document why you are making the pay cut, he won’t win a discrimination case even if his pay puts him at a lower level than others outside his protected class who perform the same job.

Communicating benefits: 3+3 strategy works best

02/03/2012
Giving em­­ployees at least three weeks to review benefit information and providing that information in at least three different formats is the key to benefits training that sticks, says new research from benefits provider Unum.

Tell bosses: Follow 3 cardinal rules to document discipline

02/02/2012

To be successful, employee feedback should be routine, not a once-a-year event. In the same way, managers should make documentation of employee performance, behavior and discipline a regular habit. But how managers document their observations can mean the difference between winning and losing, should an employee ever decide to take you to court.

Is there a way to ensure sensitive investigation records remain confidential?

02/02/2012
Q. One of our employees has just filed an internal complaint claiming that she has been sexually harassed. We are concerned that if we discipline the alleged harasser based on our findings and note this incident in his personnel file, he may demand to inspect our investigation records. May we avoid this by maintaining a separate investigation file?

Beware defamation claims based on discipline write-ups

02/02/2012

Remind supervisors and managers to stick with verifiable and documented facts when writing up an employee for poor performance, a mistake or other disciplinary matter. That’s because a false write-up could be grounds for a later defamation lawsuit.