Policies / Handbooks

Timing is everything when it comes to workplace romances gone bad and terminations

02/13/2012

When you terminate an employee for a good, obvious and well-documented reason, you seldom have to worry about a surprise harassment complaint. Former employees file them fairly frequently, but courts tend to view them with suspicion. The obvious question: Why didn’t the employee complain about harassment before?

Use harassment hotline? Keep detailed records

02/09/2012

Chances are, you have a sexual harassment policy that gives employees several ways to report harassment—maybe including a hotline for phoning in problems. But beware: An employee may file an EEOC complaint before you even have a chance to investigate alleged harassment. If that happens, your hotline records may play a crucial role in your defense.

Can dermatologist tell worker to tone down the tan?

02/06/2012

Q. We’re a dermatology practice and one of our new employees is excessive with tanning. She has a dark tan and sometimes is sunburned. We promote the opposite of what she does. She also wears tight low-cut tops. Are we allowed to say something in both regards?

NLRB’s latest crack at social media policy? What a mess!

02/03/2012

In late January, the National Labor Relations Board released an “Operations Management Memo” that purports to offer additional guidance to employers and HR professionals concerned about employees’ use of social media. I can sum up the NLRB’s report in three words: What a mess.

Be sure to document the effective date of all new disciplinary policies

02/02/2012

When you change a disciplinary policy, make sure you document exactly when the change went into effect. That way, an employee who is punished more severely can’t point to the earlier disciplinary actions as evidence he was unfairly singled out.

How to make ‘one rule’ discipline work

02/01/2012

If you want to streamline your employee manual and disciplinary process, you may be tempted to create one general misconduct rule. It might state, for example, “Violating company policies can result in discipline, up to and including termination.” But before you adopt such a rule, make sure HR is ready to administer it.

He said, she said: What if they both did? Trust investigation to reveal harassment truth

02/01/2012

If your sexual harassment policy is comprehensive, any complaint may trigger an investigation that uncovers many violations—perhaps even by the complaining employee. When that happens, the best policy is to let the investigation take its course and document everything. Then discipline everyone who violated the policy.

DOL: It’s time to formalize FMLA military family leave

01/31/2012

The U.S. Department of Labor has proposed new FMLA rules that would formalize several statutory amendments that expanded military family-leave rights in 2008 and 2009. The new rules would officially incorporate into the FMLA amendments that were tacked onto the National Defense Authorization Act. If you’re covered by the FMLA, these rules will apply to you.

Documented insubordination can often sink employee’s discrimination lawsuit

01/31/2012

Employees who sue for discrimination have to prove they are members of a protected class, were qualified for the position they held, were terminated or subjected to another adverse action and were treated less favorably than employees outside their protected class. Employers that can show the employee was insubordinate can quickly win such cases.

Staff Twitter accounts: Who ‘owns’ the followers?

01/27/2012

If your employees post on their work-related Twitter accounts, a pending lawsuit in a federal California court could answer an important question: Who owns that Twitter “handle” and those followers when the employee leaves?