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Employee Relations

Beware retaliation following internal bias investigation

08/01/2012
The 7th Circuit has held that employees who participate in employer internal investigations before administrative charges or lawsuits have been filed are not protected from retaliation. It’s different, however, after such charges have been filed.

Workers help Virginia firm keep culture intact

07/31/2012

To hire the best new employees for its culture, Richmond, Va.-based Snagajob.com lets its current employees assist with the hiring. The online recruitment firm trains employees in interviewing skills and then calls on them to help the CEO select new hires.

Jets’ new HQ makes rank-and-file part of the team

07/25/2012
Nonroster employees of the New York Jets might not work out side by side with Tim Tebow and Mark Sanchez, but they use the same gym—when the team’s not in it.

The case for managers: Hierarchy boosts productivity

07/20/2012
While it’s trendy for companies to tear down the corporate walls and declare all employees equal, new research in the journal Psychological Science says teams with built-in hierarchy are more productive than teams in which all people hold an equal amount of power.

Violence flares? You can discipline flexibly

07/16/2012
Do you have a zero-tolerance policy for workplace violence? That doesn’t mean you have to fire everyone who violates the letter of the rule. You can use some discretion, as long as you document why.

Detail discipline so you can later explain why punishment was appropriate and fair

07/16/2012
A discrimination lawsuit compares what happened to the complaining employee with what happened to others outside his protected class. Details matter. For example, an isolated instance of rude behavior is one thing, but constant rudeness is something else entirely. It can justify different, more severe punishment.

Make sure rigorous performance expectations don’t drive employees to work off the clock

07/16/2012
You may be tempting fate—and a Fair Labor Standards Act class-action lawsuit—if you demand so much productivity from employees that they can’t reasonably get everything done within the time you allow. The problem: Employees may feel compelled to work off the clock.

Does an employee have a right to ‘correct’ a discipline report that’s going into her file?

07/10/2012

Q. We recently disciplined an employee for repeated insubordination because of her attitude toward her supervisor. We wrote her up and placed a warning report in her file. Now she is protesting the accuracy of the report and demanding the chance to “correct” it. Can we force her to sign our disciplinary report as-is?

Can volunteerism be part of job review criteria?

07/10/2012
Q. Our evaluation process includes commitment to the community. We give all employees “points” for volunteering. The points become part of their numerical rating and could affect their rating (satisfactory or unsatisfactory) and raise potential. We don’t pay for volunteering time. Are we violating the law?

Keep detailed, contemporaneous records to show you are vigilant and consistent about discipline

07/08/2012
Lots of discipline takes place out of sight of most employees. Employees may be reprimanded or otherwise punished for inappropriate behavior without co-workers ever finding out. Sometimes, even the employee who raised the original problem—for example, harassment or an inappropriate joke—may not know the outcome.