Policies / Handbooks

Disclaimer can counter employment-contract argument

03/04/2011

A disclaimer that clearly states an employee has no employment contract may be enough to kill a tortuous interference-with-contract claim.

Dirty Dozen: 12 manager mistakes that spark lawsuits

03/03/2011

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Sample Policy: Harassment

02/28/2011

Romance gone bad: What can we do to discourage relationships between employees?

02/28/2011

Q. Two of our employees are having a romantic relationship. One is married. The wife of the married employee came to our facility and demanded to speak with the other woman. We didn’t permit them to speak on the premises. Can we do anything to discourage employee romances or is that strictly off-limits?

Managing employees in remote locations? Insist they follow the rules, just like everyone else

02/25/2011

As more and more employees work from locations away from the main office, employers are finding it challenging to manage their workforces. In some cases, that may be so difficult that it doesn’t seem worth having remote workers, especially when an employee tries to take advantage of the distance and begins to ignore the rules. Don’t let that happen.

Can we make employee cover up her tattoos?

02/24/2011

Q. One of our employees has tattoos on her upper arms. She usually wears long sleeves, but summer is coming. Can we require her to cover the tattoos? We don’t have any kind of a dress code, but would implement one if it meant she had to cover them.

Tell staff you’re monitoring work e-mail so they can’t argue it was confidential

02/23/2011

Employers can read any e-mails sent using company-owned computers or other devices, as long as they inform employees they should have no expectation the communication is confidential. That’s true even of e-mails an employee sends to an attorney to discuss a potential lawsuit against the employer.

After NLRB ruling, can employees really trash you on Facebook?

02/21/2011

Don’t read too much into the recent foray by the NLRB into the brave new world of social media. Employees don’t receive a free pass on social media posts. They don’t have license to defame, disparage or otherwise trash their company, management, product or co-workers. Until the NLRB says otherwise, employers shouldn’t treat social media any differently than any other form of employee communications.

It’s time to ban texting while driving

02/21/2011

If you provide either cell phones or vehicles to your employees, lay down the law: No sending or reading text messages if you’re driving as part of your job. It’s illegal in 30 states.

Setting sound policies, following processes to a ‘T’ increase odds of winning in court

02/18/2011

Employers that follow their own disciplinary process—even in cases involving difficult employees—benefit if those employees sue. When courts see a reasonable disciplinary policy that is applied evenhandedly, they rarely second-guess an employer’s decision to fire an employee.