Employee Relations

Documenting discipline: The 3 cardinal rules for managers

07/16/2015

Managers should make documentation of employee performance, behavior and discipline a regular habit. HR can help limit the organization’s legal liability by counseling managers to keep three basic principles in mind when documenting discipline.

The paid leave movement marches on

07/14/2015

Paid sick leave is quickly catching on as a must-have benefit, driven by both government mandates and business realities. But is there a downside?

Going easy on tardiness doesn’t mean you can never discipline for late arrival

07/03/2015

There are times that an employee can get away with behavior that you otherwise wouldn’t tolerate. During a busy period, for example, you might be more forgiving of tardiness than when things are slower. After all, when things are busy, a late employee may be better than no employee. But if you ignore tardiness, are you forever condemned to tolerate it? Of course not, as a recent case makes clear. Still, consistency is always the best practice.

How to manage your staff through a crisis

07/01/2015

Staff morale is a key factor in how engaged and accountable employees feel in their roles. But how do you keep spirits high when business waters are clearly troubled?

Why are your employees jumping ship?

06/29/2015

With the economy on its firmest footing in years, workers are looking to reap the financial rewards. Asked why they were considering seeking other employment, here’s what likely job-changers said they wanted.

Tips to help bosses manage 3 kinds of problem employees

06/26/2015

There’s no shortage of negative employee behaviors that can have an ill effect on the entire workplace. The problem is when the behavior is not so bad where discipline or termination is in order, but managers must do something. And that something isn’t to drop the problem employee in HR’s lap! Help managers overcome some of the most griped about employee behaviors themselves with these tricks of the managerial trade.

Speaking up at staff meeting generally not protected by the First Amendment

06/24/2015

Public employees have the right to free speech and can’t be punished for exercising it. But that doesn’t mean they can say anything, anywhere. The exercise of free speech must concern a matter of public importance and not be done as part of the employee’s job.

It’s legal to use different disciplinary standards for probationary employees

06/24/2015

No doubt you have been warned many times that the best way to avoid discrimination lawsuits involving discipline is to treat everyone alike. The assumption is that by always being fair and punishing the same behavior, rule violation or poor performance the same, no one can argue that they were demoted, suspended or fired because of their protected status. But there is a situation in which you can—and probably should—treat some employees more strictly as a class.

Employee failed to tell us about the unsafe condition that led to her injury–can we discipline?

06/17/2015

Q: “I have an employee who told me on Monday that she was hurt on the prior Thursday. While we will certainly take care of the injury and report it and offer care, we would like to write up a disciplinary notice for her not immediately reporting both the unsafe condition that caused the injury as well as the injury itself. May we do this?” – Kary, Maryland

6 tips for turning your slugs into sprinters

06/15/2015

Dealing with underachievers requires using your judgment and some knowledge of human psychology. Here are some ways to get your underachieving employees moving in the right direction.