HRIS / Technology

Alert bosses: Email can and will be used against you in court

12/23/2011

You’ve told managers before, now tell ’em again: Email may seem like private communication, but it really isn’t. Anything a manager says in an email may become evidence in a lawsuit.

Learn from the best: 6 tips from America’s top HR departments

12/07/2011

Even if your HR department has only two or three employees, it can still incorporate some of the best approaches to HR management used in the country’s top HR departments. America’s biggest companies share some basic approaches to HR that can benefit much smaller departments.

Can we collect employee cellphones at the door?

11/25/2011

Q. We’ve had it with all the texting and social networking by employees when they’re supposed to be working. Can we just make them check their electronic devices at the door? Telling them to stop when we catch them isn’t working.

How to make the leap to electronic HR records

11/15/2011

Given the low cost and the easy accessibility of electronic records storage, many employers are making the digital leap to “paperless” HR. But despite the many benefits of going paperless, a host of legal problems could derail even the best-intentioned digital records plan. Carefully consider these legal issues when transitioning to an electronic personnel records system.

You can discipline for email abuse–just don’t thwart ‘concerted’ or ‘protected’ activity

10/31/2011

As soon as employers started equipping employees with email accounts and a list of company email addresses, things started getting complicated. You can punish employees for many email attack campaigns—as long as you first make sure the content doesn’t qualify as concerted or protected activity.

More HR jobs demand social media skills

10/31/2011

This summer, more than 1,000 new online job ads for HR openings included requirements that the candidate holds social media skills. That represents a 160% increase in such requests over the same period in 2010, according to a WANTED Analytics report.

NLRB: You may discipline for many employee online postings

10/27/2011

Treading carefully on today’s uncertain social media terrain, many employers might hesitate to punish employees for posting workplace comments online. But the National Labor Relations Board recently found in several scenarios that employers didn’t violate the National Labor Relations Act when they terminated or disciplined the employees.

As phones turn smart, so must your policy: What to include

10/27/2011

A cellphone policy written five years ago may no longer be sufficient. Blame the rise of smartphones. Their multifunctionality makes it more important than ever to have a mobile phone policy, not only to minimize the risks of talking on a phone while driving, but for a number of other reasons as well.

Catching up to the 21st century: Courts and social media

10/12/2011

There aren’t many published court opinions analyzing the propriety of company policies aimed at guiding employees on appropriate use of social media. However, a recent Minnesota Court of Appeals decision is one of the first in the state to provide such guidance.

Blind sided by an employee’s inglorious Internet activity

10/05/2011

Wonder what employees are really doing on those computers all day? A new court ruling shows that if they’re engaging in illegal cyber activities, you can show them the door. Just make sure you’ve shown them your cyber rulebook first …