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Employee Relations

How much cooperation must we give to a state discrimination investigation?

04/01/2008
Q. I own a small medical device company. We are responding to a frivolous charge of discrimination filed by a former employee. The Minnesota Department of Human Rights has contacted us to conduct interviews of certain employees. Do I have to make these employees available? Can I ask to participate in the employee interviews? — S.G., Bloomington …

Do nonunion employees have right to representation during disciplinary meetings?

04/01/2008
Q. I am working with my supervisory staff on how to deal with a difficult employee. He insists he has the right to be represented when his supervisor wants to discuss a performance problem. He recently asked to have another employee come with him for a meeting with his supervisor regarding his poor attendance. We are a nonunion company. Any suggestions? …

Spaghetti incident gets even messier in LAFD’s tangled tale

04/01/2008
A jury has added $1.6 million to the tab for the Los Angeles Fire Department’s (LAFD) handling of a discrimination lawsuit, bringing the total to $4.5 million. The case began when a black LAFD firefighter alleged that someone had laced his spaghetti dinner with dog food …

If you need to discipline, verify facts with several sources

04/01/2008
Discipline is always a sensitive issue, especially if the employee in question has filed previous discrimination complaints or a lawsuit. Even if the employer won previous battles, the employee may actually view any discipline as another chance to attack the company—with a retaliation lawsuit. Here’s the best way to handle further discipline …

Indiana court losing patience with inconsistent enforcement of no-Call policies

04/01/2008
To manage your workload, you need to know whether employees will show up for work. To avoid fraudulent call-offs, you may even require a personal call. But unless you are already suspicious—or have had problems with that particular employee abusing the system before—you shouldn’t single out one employee for discipline …

Include staff self-Assessment in evaluation process

04/01/2008
When an employee sues for an alleged discriminatory firing, the court will want to see the employee’s evaluation. A sterling evaluation and high praise quickly cast doubt on a termination supposedly based on poor performance. How, then, can you encourage honest evaluations? Have employees identify their own weaknesses and address those in their performance evaluations …

Track performance improvement plans by protected category

04/01/2008
Employers frequently design performance improvement plans (PIPs) for underperforming employees. But the way managers choose which employees to place on PIPs can have serious consequences. Here’s how to make sure your PIP system is fair—and legal …

You can fire high performers just because of poor attitude

04/01/2008
We’ve all encountered the type: employees who are smart—and know it. They work hard and produce results. But they are so arrogant, so abrasive and so insistent that their way is the right way that they kill morale. You don’t have to keep them on just because they meet or even exceed business goals …

Furniture company gives employees personal climate-Control devices

04/01/2008
Some employees at Zeeland, Mich.-based furniture manufacturer Herman Miller complained they were too hot. Others said they felt cold. So the firm created a personal climate-control device for office buildings and gave one to each employee in one of its offices …

Ohio wants to boost bioproducts

04/01/2008
he Ohio Legislature has approved the creation of the Ohio Agriculture to Chemicals, Polymers, and Advanced Materials Task Force, a 13-member panel tasked with promoting Ohio’s cutting-edge bioproducts industry …