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HRIS / Technology

E-mail is forever—So be careful what you say

09/01/2007

An ill-worded e-mail, unlike a phone conversation, can come back to haunt you. Deleting e-mail doesn’t mean it’s gone forever, or that a recipient hasn’t saved, printed or forwarded it. Plus, there are plenty of computer experts out there who can recreate or retrieve deleted e-mail messages. The best policy is to assume that whatever is in an e-mail can be used against you in a court of law …

Phone privacy: It’s your property

09/01/2007

Q. Can employers eavesdrop on their employees’ phone conversations at work, or listen to their voicemail messages in the company voicemail system? …

Back seat of the car makes a poor backup plan

08/01/2007

It’s still the safest place for small children in a car, but the back seat may not be the best place to stow your company’s backup data …

Fire before you hire: Put more burden on job-seekers

08/01/2007

Hiring managers spend too much time interviewing candidates—and asking them the wrong questions. Then they’re often surprised to have to fire those same candidates a few months later after discovering that good interview skills don’t necessarily signal a great job fit. The problem: Employers often hire for hard skills but fire for soft skills, says Karl Ahlrichs of Hiring Smart, an Indiana firm specializing in employee selection. Instead, says Ahlrichs, “Our new slogan should be, ‘Fire them before we hire them.’” …

Supercharge your computer: 4 tricks of the trade

08/01/2007

Even the fastest computer could profit from a few tricks that make everyday tasks easier or faster. Here are four free tools that HR professionals can benefit from …

Sen. Boscola plagued by blogging chief of staff

08/01/2007

How far can employees go when firing off comments on the web on their own time? What if the employee is a public servant? For Bernie Kieklak, chief of staff for state Sen. Lisa Boscola, the answer is pretty far …

What’s the Correct HR-to-Employee Ratio?

07/23/2007
Is your HR department understaffed or overstaffed? Here’s a formula to correctly calculate your organization HR-to-employee ratio.

Immigration reform: States pick up ball U.S. Senate dropped

07/17/2007

When the U.S. Senate failed to pass comprehensive immigration-reform legislation last month, the problem didn’t go away. Now states are stepping in to craft local solutions to problems related to undocumented immigrants. Employers are likely to bear the enforcement burden.

Job applications: How to create a legally safe form

07/02/2007

No single federal law governs job applications. Your biggest risk is asking unnecessary questions that run afoul of federal or state laws banning job discrimination on the basis of sex, age, race, religion, national origin or disability. But, done right, your application can be a great tool to communicate important information …

After cleaning out his desk, he cleaned out their data, too

07/01/2007

A disgruntled former IT worker for Pentastar Aviation in Waterford hacked into the company’s systems and deleted sensitive employee data, causing $34,000 in damages. He’s now facing criminal charges …