Policies / Handbooks

Policy alone won’t fend off harassment suit

05/03/2018

You may think having a solid sexual harassment policy is all it takes to thwart a sexual harassment lawsuit. Not if the policy isn’t being followed!

Establish process for verifying employment

04/17/2018

Verification of employment requests are not difficult to process, but you do need a formal system for responding to them.

Feds’ rules for safeguarding sensitive info

04/12/2018

A Trump administration official’s frustration over confidentiality breaches has turned into useful advice that can benefit HR professionals who worry about disclosure of sensitive information.

OK to enforce no-moonlighting policy against employees who take FMLA leave

04/09/2018

Nothing in the FMLA specifically prohibits employees who take FMLA leave from moonlighting for another employer. But as long as employers clearly communicate it, it’s perfectly fine to enforce a no-moonlighting policy against any employee, including those who take FMLA leave.

Document details to show why discipline differed

04/03/2018

If you hand out different discipline for two employees who commit similar violations, make sure you document exactly why. That way, if you are later sued, you can explain the difference.

Courts have little patience for inflexible “a rule is a rule” policies

04/03/2018

Sometimes, you have to take a step back and consider the consequences before enforcing a rule against an employee. Take, for example, a strict call-off rule that allows for no deviation.

How should we handle transgender dress code?

03/22/2018

Q. A new employee refuses to comply with our dress code, which has slightly different requirements for men and women, because the individual is transgender. Though the new employee marked “female” on our employment application, the individual has since told us about identifying as a man. Can we require this employee to follow our dress code for women?

Are we allowed to tell women they can’t wear pants at work?

03/22/2018

Q. I am an HR director for a traditional, conservative company and have run into a new issue. When onboarding employees, I always explain our preferred dress code: we prefer women to wear skirts and dresses with pantyhose to work because many of our senior partners are old-fashioned. A new female employee said she would prefer to wear pants. Can we require her to wear a skirt instead?

Update your plan for preventing violence

02/16/2018

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is aggressively going after employers that don’t take seriously their responsibility to provide a safe workplace—especially those that don’t have a specific violence prevention program in place.

Make your complaint process retaliation-proof by limiting access

02/07/2018

Access to internal complaints should be on an as-needed basis. Restricting access to those files limits the number of staff members who can be accused of retaliation.