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HR Management

Do your policies violate the NLRA? You might be surprised

10/01/2007

Employers beware! Do your personnel policies—or how you enforce them—violate the National Labor Relations Act? The answer may surprise you, especially if you operate in a union-free environment. Earlier this year, the National Labor Relations Board heard oral arguments in a case that will determine whether employees have the right to use their company’s e-mail system, or other communications-based systems, to communicate with each other regarding union matters and terms and conditions of employment …

Unintended consequences: Co-Pays up, productivity down

10/01/2007

If your employees have to shell out for co-pays that they believe are too high, they might opt not to buy their medicine or even seek treatment, even for major health ailments. That can be a problem for your organization because sick employees are not productive …

Stay competitive by aligning benefits with staff expectations

10/01/2007

An organization’s HR professionals and its employees don’t always see eye to eye when it comes to benefits. The Society for Human Resource Management’s “2007 Job Satisfaction Survey Report” revealed some good examples …

Save hours, employee worry with identity-Theft protection

10/01/2007

More than 10 million people a year fall victim to identity thieves—and some of them work for you. It could take up to 600 hours to undo the damage caused by identity theft. And those hours are usually workday hours. That’s why more organizations are beginning to offer identity-theft protections …

Immigration: Know your ‘Border guard’ responsibilities

10/01/2007

Together, the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 and the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986 govern U.S. immigration policy. IRCA was amended in 1990. With each new law, employers gain new responsibilities. For each new employee hired, U.S. employers must complete a Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. The I-9 establishes the employee’s identity and his or her legal work status. Employers can hire only those who are eligible to work legally in this country …

Complying with the revised EEO-1 reporting requirements

10/01/2007

Employers were required to file a new and revised EEO-1 report by Sept. 30. The EEOC recently revised the report form for the first time in more than 40 years. Did your organization comply with the new reporting requirements—or will you need to make changes? …

Employees must request copy of personnel file in writing

10/01/2007

Q. An employee orally requested that we provide him with a copy of his personnel file. Employee files are voluminous, and we would prefer not to provide a copy if we don’t have to. Are we required to copy the file for our employee? Can we require that the employee copy the file on his own time? …

Keeping I-9 forms in separate file: Is it mandatory?

10/01/2007

Q. I’ve read that we shouldn’t keep employees’ I-9s in their personnel files. Is this a suggestion or are there laws that require them to be in separate files? —L.K., Alabama …

Document good faith when disciplining for rule violation

10/01/2007

Employees who sue for sex or other forms of discrimination under the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act often claim their employer based discharge or other punishment on trumped-up charges. Employers can win these cases if they have good records showing their actions were reasonable and “in good faith” …

New regulations issued regarding Social Security ‘No-Match’ letters

10/01/2007

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued new final regulations detailing how employers must respond to Social Security “no-match” letters. That means employers that receive no-match letters now have new legal obligations when it comes to verifying and maintaining federal I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification documents …