• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Employee Relations

Men’s Wearhouse dresses employees for retail success

03/26/2013
Employees of Men’s Wearhouse dress their clients for success, and their employer dresses them. Employees reap $50 in merchandise from the Houston-based men’s clothier for every $500 they spend there.

Build staff buy-in for your internship programs

03/25/2013
It’s no secret that long-term staff often dread the summer onslaught of interns—a generation gap that can sink even the best-designed internship program. Smooth the process by having a talk with the older, wiser managers and co-workers who will interact with interns this summer.

When rude boss spouts off, expect little sympathy from juries

03/21/2013
A supervisor’s foul temper can alienate employees—and wind up costing an employer big bucks.

For employees, Dayton is the happiest place to work

03/13/2013
No offense to its contented residents, but who would have thought? Dayton, Ohio, has the nation’s happiest workers, according to a survey of 36,000 workers by CareerBliss.com.

5 tips: How to rein in expense account fraud

03/08/2013
The typical organization loses 5% of its revenues to fraud each year, and 16.6% of fraud losses trace back to expense account schemes, according to a report by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

Benefits alert: Health insurance exchange notice requirement postponed

03/01/2013
The health care reform law required employers to begin notifying employees on March 1 about the availability of state-based exchanges as an option for buying health insurance. But acknowledging the obvious—that the state exchanges are nowhere near ready to go live—the Department of Labor has temporarily rescinded the notice requirement.

Is it legal to exclude out-of-state employees from our annual outing?

03/01/2013

Q. We’ve traditionally sponsored a springtime cruise for our Pennsylvania employees—mainly executives and directors. However, it will cost too much to invite our newest employees, who work in three neighboring states. Can we sponsor different events for staff in each geographical area?

How should we conduct an investigation?

03/01/2013

Q. An employee lodged a complaint about a supervisor’s misconduct. I know we’ll need to perform an investigation, but I’m not sure where to start. What’s the best way to proceed?

If employee refuses to cooperate with investigation, feel free to fire

02/26/2013
Not everyone wants to cooperate when an employer begins investigating discrimination or harassment charges. One solution is to tell all em­­ployees they must cooperate. Otherwise, they risk being disciplined. If that doesn’t work, you now have an option …

Effective evaluations are management tools, legal protection

02/25/2013
Ah, the “halo effect”—the practice of inflating an employee’s annual review to increase morale and avoid the unpleasantness of pointing out underperformers’ weaknesses. Too bad the halo strategy sparks legal risks.