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Employee Relations

Sports apparel firm pushes fitness, team spirit

07/05/2011

Baltimore-based sports apparel company Under Armour doesn’t require its 3,363 employees to be athletes, but it does look for new hires with a love of sports and fitness. Reason: Team spirit is core to the company’s culture.

Give oral reprimands that serve a purpose

06/30/2011
You already know to scold employees in private. You don’t want to embarrass them at the same time that you’re criticizing some aspect of their performance. But reprimanding in private doesn’t excuse you from speaking diplomatically.

Are you ready to punish a slacking employee? First, have a talk

06/29/2011

HR professionals or managers should always discuss performance or behavior problems with employees before disciplining them. After all, employees often admit their mistakes when confronted directly. And any admissions can be used later to support your disciplinary decision if the employee claims discrimination.

The art of giving positive feedback: 7 simple tips

06/28/2011

Giving feedback is an important legal and practical management task—and certainly not an easy one. Many managers make the mistake of dishing out feedback only when employees do something wrong. But praise can also be an effective motivational tool, if used correctly. Here are seven guidelines to follow:

Face-to-face counseling helps employees grasp benefits

06/27/2011
On average, 30% to 40% of an employee’s total compensation is wrapped up in benefits. Unfortunately, that information is often invisible to employees. The most effective way to make sure employees really know about the benefits you offer, their value and why they’re a great deal is to tell them face-to-face.

Good faith wins court cases! Don’t use investigation to trap employee

06/24/2011

Employers get lots of leeway when it comes to terminating employees. For example, courts generally uphold firing someone for breaking a rule as long as the employer reasonably believed the employee broke the rule—even if it turns out he did not. But when it looks as if the employer tried to trick the employee into breaking a rule, judges won’t look the other way.

Hospital executive pleads guilty to embezzlement charges

06/24/2011

The former executive vice president of the Children’s Hospital of Phila­del­phia has pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a 12-year plot to embezzle $1.7 million from the hospital. Roosevelt Hairston Jr. was relieved of his duties in February after hospital auditors found irregularities.

York County official claims hard times led her to steal

06/24/2011
York County Assistant Chief Clerk Vickie Gladfelter has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $347,000 in county funds. She was sentenced to one to five years in state prison. Glad­­felter confessed to a seven-year scheme involving selling used county cell phones and pocketing postal refunds.

Fair harassment investigation can justify firing supervisor

06/24/2011
When investigating supervisor sexual har­assment claims, you must conduct a fair workplace investigation, not a criminal probe. As long as the investigation was fair and the conclusion was reasonable, courts won’t interfere.

When planning layoff, use objective factors

06/24/2011
When deciding who should get the ax during cost-cutting reductions in force, use as many objective factors as possible. For example, use performance measures that include specific achieve­­­ments and rankings based on those achievements.