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HR Management

Manage work, play with formal vacation policy

03/05/2012

Many workers routinely skip vacations, handing back to employers more than $21 billion in unused vacation time each year. In fact, vacation is good for business—it lowers employee stress and prevents burnout. Consider your vacation policy an important element of your organization’s health.

When co-workers marry, you can require one of them to resign

03/05/2012
It’s perfectly legitimate to try to prevent sexual harassment and allegations of favoritism by instituting a policy that bans romantic relationships between co-workers. You can even require one spouse to resign when co-workers marry.

Welcome to HR Professionals Week: Monday, March 5

03/05/2012
Welcome to HR Professionals Week, the third annual celebration of the people who make America’s workplaces productive, successful and fulfilling. Each day this week, we’re sending a virtual gift basket of free skill-building training tools!

The HR I.Q. Test: March ’12

03/01/2012
Test your knowledge of recent trends in employment law, comp & benefits and other HR issues with our monthly mini-quiz.

How close are you to your colleagues?

02/28/2012
Friendship runs wide in HR departments, if not especially deep.

Remind bosses: Ignoring safety rules is negligence risk

02/24/2012
Ordinarily, employers aren’t liable for workers’ injuries. Workers’ compensation insurance covers them. But if managers ignore safety guidelines that they know could prevent injuries, the employee can sue.

What’s our duty to accommodate a religious need we just learned about?

02/22/2012
Q. An employee we hired a couple weeks ago just told us that he is Muslim and can’t work on Fridays. During the interview, he was asked whether anything would prohibit his working a proposed schedule that specifically included Fridays. He said no, in writing. Can we let this guy go?

Can we ban drinking and driving company car?

02/22/2012
Q. We recently learned that an employee who drives a company vehicle is stopping on the way home for a few drinks. Should we notify all employees that if they use drugs or alcohol while driving a company vehicle, they will be fired?

What Pennsylvania employers need to know about medical marijuana

02/22/2012
Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have legalized some form of medical marijuana use, even though the federal government continues to classify marijuana as an illegal drug. Pennsylvania hasn’t yet enacted a medical marijuana law, but that could change thanks to legislation that has been introduced in the General Assembly.

Morgan Truck Body collides with $93,000 in OSHA fines

02/22/2012
Morgantown-based Morgan Truck Body has been cited for 24 safety and health violations at a factory in Georgia. The citations result from OSHA’s Site-Specific Targeting Program, which scrutinizes industries with high occupational illness and injury rates.