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Employee Relations

Assessing witness credibility in workplace investigations

04/02/2009

During a workplace investigation, there are a number of practical steps that you, as an HR investigator, can take to improve the reliability and objectivity of your witness credibility assessments. Four factors are critical to assessing witness credibility: demeanor, consistency, chronology, and past history and motivations.

Static over dryer sheets comes out in the wash

03/31/2009

Fourteen employees of a Costco store in Hackensack took recycling a bit too far when they started reusing customer coupons for free fabric softener and dryer sheets. The employees wound up paying a high price for their “free” loot. When investigators brought the matter to the attention of store manager Sami Nasr, he fired all 14 employees.

Former Wachovia exec doing well at Wells Fargo

03/31/2009

Enough doom and gloom already! Here’s a feel-good story! Sure, the AIG bonus debacle has soured the financial world on retention bonuses, but one company is still offering stick-around cash. To be precise, Wells Fargo is paying a bonus to keep one particular employee.

BK hands over $85,000 after boss seeks sex from teen worker

03/30/2009

A Clemmons Burger King is the latest fish caught in the EEOC’s teen sexual harassment net. Burger King will pay $85,000 to a teenage employee who was subject to unwanted touching, sexual advances and requests for sexual favors from the store’s general manager.

What should I do? My boss wants to make a change that goes against existing policy

03/26/2009

Q. I’m the HR director, and our discipline policy is very complicated and has several categories of offenses. It says that if employees commit offenses that may result in suspensions of more than three days, employees are allowed a pre-disciplinary counseling conference. My boss thinks we should skip that conference if the employee has already been counseled for a prior offense within the past 12 months. I’m concerned that this deviates from our policy. Can we do this?

Tell well-intentioned managers: You must route all ADA accommodation requests through HR

03/26/2009

Sometimes, immediate supervisors want to be helpful when a valued employee asks for disability accommodations that seem reasonable. Instead of having HR handle the ADA process, they just make the accommodations themselves. That’s a scenario for trouble down the line.

The death of one-size-fits-all benefits: Tailor rewards to generational differences

03/26/2009

Nearly a third of HR professionals plan to alter their total rewards programs with generational preferences in mind, according to the new Top Five Total Rewards Priorities survey. That figure is likely to increase significantly in the future because the workforce is becoming more multigenerational—especially as older workers remain longer to rebuild their nest eggs.

8 rules for recognizing and rewarding employees

03/26/2009
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Pay smarter: 4 comp trends for an awful economy

03/26/2009

The global financial crisis has stuck a pin in those rosy salary predictions from last summer. The trend in pay raises is down—but not out. About 75% of U.S. workers will see raises this year, but those raises will be the smallest in three decades, says a new WorldatWork survey. Some emerging strategies:

IRS, DOL release guidance on new COBRA rules

03/24/2009

The IRS and the U.S. Department of Labor have just published guidance to help employers claim the credit for the new 65% COBRA subsidy and create the mandatory new COBRA notices. Look here for links to the documents and information you need to comply.