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Policies / Handbooks

Design bonus payments to reduce OT liability

06/01/2007
Do you hand out discretionary bonuses? If so, you may be paying more overtime than necessary—and mishandling bonus payments could land you in court.

‘How may I insult you?’ Rude salespeople ignite bias suits

06/01/2007

You’d think the sight of customers paying retail prices with real green money would be a sight for a salesperson’s sore eyes. That apparently wasn’t the case at a Dillard’s department store in Kansas City, which is now facing a messy lawsuit after a saleswoman shunned a customer …

Pregnant employees: Where can you draw the line?

06/01/2007

Pregnant employees and applicants are protected by two federal employment laws: the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and the FMLA …

Allow BYOB at work celebrations?

06/01/2007

Q. We are an accounting firm. At the end of a grueling tax season, we celebrate with a company party. We’ve stopped supplying alcohol due to liability concerns. But could we allow employees to BYOB? We’d never let employees leave drunk, but could we be sued if they cause an accident?—J.J., Missouri

Is bereavement leave also FMLA leave? Not usually

06/01/2007

Bereavement leave for employees who suffer a death in the family may be part of your benefits package, but it isn’t necessarily covered by the FMLA …

Cell phones in plant: Must we bargain with union?

06/01/2007

Q. Our company has a union contract with work rules. We also have the right in the contract to change the work rules, which the union can grieve. We recently exercised our right to add a new rule prohibiting cell phones in the plant. The union hasn’t filed a grievance, but it has filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board. It claims that we are obligated to bargain over the new rule. Are we obligated to bargain over a new rule like this?—R.S.

Michigan OSHA inspection

06/01/2007

Q. Michigan’s labor department has sent us a letter stating that a MIOSHA safety officer will be coming to inspect our facility regarding an employee’s safety complaint. Are we obligated to let the safety officer come into our plant and question our employees? Will the officer tell us who filed the complaint?—C.B.

Don’t just ban smoking on-Site; help employees quit

06/01/2007

Even if you ban smoking at work, nicotine-addicted employees will still manage to find a place to light up. And trying to hire only nonsmokers could create legal troubles. So what’s the best way to cut your high health costs related to smokers? Actively help them quit …

Visits from customers help workers understand their mission

06/01/2007

At Medtronic, employees never wonder if their jobs are important. Once a year, they invite medical patients who have benefited from the company’s products to come to the firm’s Minneapolis headquarters and share their stories …

Use confidentiality clause to guard against ‘Litigation theft’

06/01/2007

Employees pursuing legal actions against their employers sometimes snoop around to see what documentary “evidence” of wrongdoing they can find around the office. Protect yourself by having a clear policy against such unauthorized document distribution …