Policies / Handbooks

When punishing harassment, you may discipline different perpetrators differently

07/14/2018

Employers investigating workplace harassment accusations may wonder if all the alleged perpetrators must be disciplined equally harshly. You do have some discretion in how you mete out punishment. Just make sure you can later justify why one party was less culpable or deserved a lesser punishment than others.

Sample Policy: Social Media

07/14/2018

The following sample policy was excerpted from The Book of Company Policies, published by HR Specialist. Edit for your organization’s purposes ________________________________ “Social media (including personal and professional websites, blogs, chat rooms and bulletin boards; social networks, such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter; video-sharing sites such as YouTube; and e-mail) are a common means of […]

Review your handbook: NLRB changes the rules on workplace rules

07/13/2018

The National Labor Relations Board last year overturned an established standard for determining if workplace rules comply with the National Labor Relations Act. Now the NLRB has issued a memorandum providing employer guidance.

Gov’t employees: No due process claim to promotion

06/26/2018

Public employees have a right to due process before being deprived of the property interest that is their job. Essentially, that means a public employer has to provide “some sort of a hearing” allowing the worker to present his side of the story before being fired. That right doesn’t extend to a promotion not granted.

Failure to follow reporting procedures can justify firing—even if boss should have acted

06/26/2018

If an employer has a process in place for reporting wrongdoing that includes bypassing one’s supervisor when necessary, employees who don’t take that step can’t aviod punishment by blaming the supervisor. That’s not a justified excuse.

Review handbook for at-will conflicts

06/12/2018

If an employee has a contract with his employer that specifically limits his discharge, then at-will employment does not apply. This situation can get tricky if your employee handbook lacks a contract disclaimer or contains language that seems to limit your right to fire employees.

Snapshot: Big business makes progress on LGBT issues

06/12/2018

An overwhelming majority of Fortune 500 corporations prohibit discrimination on the basis of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender status.

Did Starbucks fail at communicating policy?

05/17/2018

It’s likely that the Starbucks incidents reveal some form of discriminatory animus on the part of individual employees. But from a management and HR perspective, there is another layer.

Access to Personnel Files: 50 State Laws

05/10/2018

No federal law grants employees the right to inspect their personnel files. However, many states do give employees that right and spell out the terms under which employees are allowed to inspect their files. Here’s a state-by-state list of laws governing access to personnel files.

Rule requiring employees to speak only English at work may be race discrimination

05/07/2018

Take note if you have rules against speaking languages other than English at work: That could constitute race discrimination under Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866.