05/21/2013
Employee assistance programs can yield savings of $5 to $16 for each dollar invested, according to various studies. But if very few of your employees use your EAP, you’re not getting anywhere near that kind of ROI. Eight suggestions for boosting EAP participation:
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05/20/2013
Like most employers, your employee handbook probably includes a disclaimer informing employees that nothing in the document creates a contract. But what if your handbook also includes a clause that says employee disputes must go to arbitration instead of state or federal court, where a runaway jury might bankrupt the company? Bad idea.
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05/20/2013
Employees too often see their base salary as their only compensation. They forget how much other benefits are worth. Illuminate those compensation blind spots by preparing an annual total compensation statement for each employee.
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05/20/2013
Q. We are headquartered in Oklahoma and have offices in another state that do their own hiring. Must I maintain a copy of I-9s at our headquarters from that other office?
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05/16/2013
About 15% of email at work is considered gossip—defined as “the absence of a third party from a conversation"—according to a Georgia Institute of Technology study.
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05/16/2013
Q. We give certain employees company cars to drive. If they get traffic tickets, are we responsible for paying the fine? Or can we hold the employee liable? We don’t have a company policy on this. I was wondering if there are any sample policies.
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05/15/2013
How deeply do you want to get involved with employees’ personal lives? Becoming a sounding board for every personal problem will eat up your workday (and drain you emotionally). It’s up to you to set boundaries.
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05/13/2013
An increase in overtime hours can mean an increase in accidents and production errors. Consider these overtime policies and practices that can help reduce the likelihood of safety and production problems.
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05/10/2013
Waconia-based Applied Vacuum Technologies (AVT) has settled a disability discrimination suit with the EEOC. A former employee had filed the complaint after the company terminated him.
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05/09/2013
Employees don’t always know to ask specifically for FMLA leave. Some may not even know they are entitled to time off for a serious health condition. But that doesn’t mean you can ignore the obvious and discipline a worker for missing work when it’s clear he or she may be entitled to FMLA leave.
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05/06/2013
In 2008, Congress expanded the FMLA to include two types of military leave: exigency leave and military caregiver leave. In 2010, Congress expanded those leave rights by applying them to the regular armed forces as well as National Guard members and reservists. Now those changes have been officially implemented with new regulations from the DOL.
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05/06/2013
You can’t prevent all sexual harassment, but you can do plenty to avoid liability when it does happen, at least when the harasser is a co-worker. Start with a clear anti-harassment policy, and make sure everyone understands it.
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05/01/2013
Roughly four out of 10 workers have dated a co-worker, according to a survey by Spherion Corporation. When office romances sour, scorned lovers often sue, alleging that their former lover was a sexual harasser. And even if the lovers are happy, workplace romances can cause problems in the office or on the shop floor. Based on all of these legal risks, should your organization forbid office romances?
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05/01/2013
Test your knowledge of recent trends in employment law, comp & benefits and other HR issues with our monthly mini-quiz ...
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04/30/2013
If a worker who was hurt at work can find a doctor to testify that subsequent debilitating headaches were caused by the work injury, you can expect to continue making disability payments for a long time.
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