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Policies / Handbooks

Do we have to tolerate moonlighting by employee who is out on FMLA leave?

07/26/2011
Q. We recently learned that an employee on FMLA leave is working for another company. Can we fire him?

What should we do? Employee almost divulged insider-trading information on Facebook

07/26/2011
Q. We recently learned that one of our employees posted comments on a friend’s Facebook page, coming to our company’s defense over a recent drop in stock price. The employee came dangerously close to disclosing information about earnings that were not yet public. What can and should we do?

How to prevent workplace violence–and manage legal liability

07/26/2011
According to the latest numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 12% of assailants in fatal workplace shootings are co-workers or former co-workers. Sadly, violence can strike any workplace. That’s why it’s so important to be able to recognize the signs of potential trouble and have protocols in place to prevent a poten­tially tragic situation. That’s often easier said than done.

Use your Internet policy to justify terminating potentially dangerous employee

07/26/2011
Employers that want to maintain a productive workplace are smart to set limits on the websites employees can visit. Consider the following case, in which an employer was able to use its Internet policy to terminate an e­mployee whom co-workers and super­visors feared might do them harm.

4 OT rules that put a stop to off-the-clock work

07/25/2011
Hourly employees know that if they work overtime, their employer must pay them for the extra hours. That’s true, but it doesn’t mean they can work OT whenever they feel like it. Here’s how to end unauthorized overtime

The 5 steps you must take to prevent workplace violence

07/25/2011

There’s never been a better time to implement a violence prevention plan. Tough economic times sometimes cause people to snap—and they might do so at work. You need a prevention program that starts with employee screening and ends with publicizing your tough anti-violence policy.

Choose the best approach to protect your trade secrets

07/22/2011
Every organization wants to safeguard trade secrets and proprietary information. It’s your responsibility to make sure employees know that you expect them to do their part by not divulging your intellectual capital. It’s also important to make sure employees don’t take trade secrets with them if they go to work for a competitor.

11 tips to help dads balance work and family

07/14/2011

Work/life issues are no longer women’s domain. Surveys by the Boston College Cen­ter for Work & Family and World­at­Work agree that men are struggling to balance the need to both care for their families and work to support them. Here are 11 recommendations from the surveys’ authors:

Will we get in trouble for disciplining an employee for disparaging Facebook postings?

07/13/2011
Q. An employee has posted some very unflattering things about the company on her Facebook page. Is there anything we need to consider before taking disciplinary action against her?

Promote harmony, prevent hostile environment by adding civility policy to your handbook

07/13/2011
Few reasonable employees like working in an unpleasant environment where co-workers call each other names and generally treat each other with disrespect. They may, however, ignore such conduct to avoid rocking the boat. But supervisors who don’t put a stop to it risk a hostile environment lawsuit. That’s why you should consider adopting a civility policy that demands employees treat each other with respect and bans insults and other boorish behavior.