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Employment Law

Transfer worker who needs a fresh start; it's not retaliation if pay, benefits are equal

7/30/2010
Sometimes, an employee simply isn’t a good fit for a particular job assignment. But if you transfer such employees with a genuine intent to give the person a fresh start—and not a hidden motive of discrimination—you’ll likely survive a legal challenge. Just make sure the new job has similar responsibilities, pay, benefits and working conditions.
Compensation & Benefits

Use benefits checklist to smooth new-hire onboarding

7/29/2010
While making the right benefits choices and completing the necessary paperwork is ultimately the employee’s responsibility, HR can give a kick in the pants by providing a checklist like this one.
Employee Relations

Google's 5 tools to lure and retain the best

7/28/2010
Stock options and stocked kitchens aren’t the only reason employee turnover is so low at Google. While the online giant is legendary for its financial and “comfort” perks, you need to look beyond these to see its real retention tools. Shannon Deegan, Google’s director of People Operations, explained some of these at last month’s SHRM conference in San Diego:
Terminations

Before you decide to fire, make sure past evaluations support your rationale

7/28/2010
Nothing raises suspicions among employees (and juries) than effusive praise followed by a pink slip. So here’s a tip that will make courts more likely to uphold your termination decisions: Make sure whatever reason you use to justify a firing also shows up in past performance evaluations.
HR Management

It's time to review your e-monitoring policies

7/27/2010
A long-awaited Supreme Court ruling has reiterated the importance of all employers to draft and enforce a comprehensive electronic communications policy governing how employees can use e-mail, the Internet, cell phones and text services.
Hiring

Checking applicant references: How to dig the dirt--legally

7/26/2010
As part of the hiring process, supervisors are sometimes called on to check an applicant’s references. Those phone calls can help you accurately assess a person’s strengths, weaknesses and past job performance. But checking references can also be challenging—and legally tricky. Here are six guidelines for soliciting information without bumping into legal issues:
Article Archives

Quest offers health assessments, follow-up wellness programs

FMLA now covers care by same-sex parents

Keep health costs out of the equation when considering hiring and firing

DOL's Trojan horse: 'We're from the DOL and We Can Help'

What you should look for in a health benefits broker

Don't break the bank for effective wellness programs

What's a 'grandfathered' health plan? Feds release new rules

Americans admit financial ineptness

First lawsuit filed under new genetic discrimination law

Can we discipline exempt workers for attendance?

Federal workers run with the PACK at lunch

Here's intel on how the other side approaches union elections

HR lessons learned the hard way: Don't blindly trust your FMLA software

Anti-incumbent fever strikes boardrooms, too