HR MANAGEMENT

Evenly enforce policy prohibiting employee fraternization 05/14/2008   If, like some companies, you have a policy forbidding dating or relationships between supervisors and hourly employees, make sure you enforce the rule consistently ...

Schaumburg woman indicted in alleged international corporate espionage scheme 05/14/2008   Hanjuan Jin, a former software engineer for a suburban Chicago telecommunications firm identified as “Company A” for security reasons, has been indicted on charges of stealing business trade secrets and attempting to take them to China ...

Don’t let jury duty force you to defend yourself in court 05/14/2008   Both Illinois and federal laws require employers to let their employees off for jury duty. Additionally, employers may not penalize employees for serving on a jury. No matter how obvious this is, every now and then, employers try to get back at employees who perform their civic duties. It never works ...

HR & the Slump: The 3 Big Trends Affecting Employee Relations 05/13/2008   While all economic cycles share certain features, they also have unique effects. What’s different for HR in the 2008 downturn versus the last one? Here are three distinctive characteristics of the current economic slump that are affecting your employees—and potentially reshaping your HR programs:

Court clears up confusion over meal breaks 05/13/2008   Do you have to provide employees who work eight hours or more during a shift with an unpaid meal break away from all job responsibilities? Or can you continue to pay employees while they eat, expecting them to take calls or respond to work needs? ...

Diversity initiatives: Make sure your good intentions are lawful 05/13/2008   Title VII forbids employers from basing employment decisions on an individual’s race, color, religion, sex or national origin. But the U.S. Supreme Court has twice upheld an employer’s right to voluntarily adopt race- and gender-conscious employment policies that the employer thinks will remedy inherent work force imbalances ...

Must manager release notes on performance when employee requests personnel file? 05/13/2008   Q. One of our managers keeps notes of performance issues in a file that he uses for completing performance appraisals. One person he supervises has made a written request to see her personnel file—and specifically asked for information in the manager’s file. Do we have to give the notes to the employee? ...

Of MySpace & Money: Don't Try to Muzzle Millennials' Salary Talk 05/13/2008   You’d never discuss how much money you make, right? Dude, that attitude is so 20th century! The 20-somethings you work with eagerly dish about salaries, bonuses and other work topics you might consider taboo. Managers tempted to forbid such talk? Don’t let them! Here's why.

Put a lid on workplace trash talk that demeans women 05/12/2008   The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has just expanded employee rights in alleged sexual harassment cases. The court has ruled that sexually explicit language that tends to demean women can be the basis of a sexual harassment and hostile work environment claim even if the language is not aimed at a particular woman ...

Enraged condo owner brandishes gun, terrifies employees 05/12/2008   A 57-year-old resident of a Pompano Beach condominium, enraged by a bill for more than $4,000 in condominium owners’ association fees, barged into the complex’s clubhouse on April 25 and demanded to speak with an employee. Patrick Dellisanti ranted about the bill, then pulled out a handgun ...

BJ's warehouse store settles $100K discrimination suit 05/12/2008   BJ’s Wholesale Club will pay $100,000 to settle an EEOC lawsuit. The manager of the company’s Homestead store, who is Cuban-American, allegedly subjected a black employee and a Puerto Rican employee to numerous racial slurs ...

New guns-at-Work law called 'Boneheaded' 05/12/2008   State Rep. Mary Brandenburg took aim at Florida’s new guns-at-work law. “It’s beyond belief to think it’s essential to have guns at work,” she said after the bill passed the Legislature on a largely party-line vote, 72-42. “This was the most boneheaded bill we’ll pass this session.” ...

'No comment' is best response when reporters call about a firing 05/09/2008   Discharging an employee is stressful to everyone concerned. It can be doubly stressful if the employee held a publicly visible position. Local reporters are likely to call asking for information about why the organization fired the employee. Handling those calls poorly can spell legal trouble ...

Borders considers sale 05/09/2008   Ann Arbor-based Borders, the nation’s second-largest bookseller, has announced that it may put itself up for sale. Online retailers, including  Amazon.com, and discount retail chains such as Wal-Mart have brought unmanageable pressure on the book chain ...

MIOSHA appeal process: What to expect after receiving a citation 05/09/2008   Two Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth agencies can issue safety citations under Michigan’s Occupational Safety and Health Act: the General Industry Division and the Construction Safety Division. Employers wishing to appeal a MIOSHA citation must follow a two-step appeal procedure ...