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Employee Relations

Promote civility, but watch for discrimination

01/05/2009

How much effort should the HR office put into getting everyone to get along? The best approach is to let employees handle most social conflicts among themselves—as long as there are no overt signs of discrimination.

Are you prepared to follow the new FMLA regulations?

01/05/2009

On Jan. 16, the U.S. Department of Labor’s new FMLA regulations became effective. The most significant changes were to the regulatory scheme for handling employee leave certifications and medical documentation.

2 government workers charged in online sex flap

01/05/2009

Christopher Johnson, academic advisor at Ohio State University’s School of Nursing, and Vanise Dunn, a child sex-abuse caseworker at Franklin County Children Services, were placed on administrative leave following criminal charges of participating in a prostitution ring.

State snoopers disciplined for ‘Joe the Plumber’ inquiries

01/05/2009

Three top managers at the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services were suspended without pay for using state databases to spy on Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher of “Joe the Plumber” fame.

Free laptops result in fewer snow days

01/05/2009

Standard & Poor’s has come up with a solution to snow days for employees of its Centennial, Colo., office: laptops. The credit ratings firm gives a laptop computer to any Centennial employee who wants to work from home during foul weather.

Be honest, thorough with applicants about job

01/05/2009

The best way to keep high-level new hires around is to give them an accurate picture of what their jobs entail before they start work.

ADA: Performance and Conduct Standards

01/02/2009

In response to numerous performance-related questions from employers, the EEOC released a detailed guide to help employers apply performance and conduct standards to employees with disabilities. Here’s a summary of the EEOC’s recommendations.

Complainer can use co-workers’ anecdotes in building hostile environment case

12/31/2008

The 4th Circuit just made it easier for employees to sue for having to work in a hostile environment. The court said that unpleasant and offensive conduct aimed as one’s sex or race does not have to happen in the presence of the employee who winds up complaining. Conduct witnessed by other employees can be used as evidence …

Charlotte-Meck teachers disciplined for Facebook postings

12/31/2008

Offensive postings on the social networking web site Facebook led the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) to fire one employee and discipline seven others.

Worker’s hour count is off—Now what?

12/31/2008

Q. We do not believe that one of our employees is keeping accurate time records of her work. Can we pay her what we believe she worked instead of what her time records show?