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Employee Relations

When discipline is suddenly harsher than usual, document details that explain why

07/31/2017
When you set out to discipline a worker for breaking a rule, prepare a report that tells the whole story. That’s especially important if you need to justify why one employee received a harsher punishment than others who, in the past, may have committed similar offenses.

Clearly spell out performance expectations

07/31/2017
Make sure your managers and supervisors clearly and formally communicate their performance expectations. A performance review that criticizes alleged poor work based on expectations that weren’t clearly communicated can become the basis for a lawsuit.

What to do if you suspect workplace thievery

07/27/2017
Fraud prevention experts believe in the 10-10-80 rule: 10% of employees never steal, 10% do, the rest will go either way depending on the circumstances.

Google HR: Pay ‘unfairly,’ give freedom & meaning

07/27/2017

Laszlo Bock, the former senior VP of people operations at Google and author of the book Work Rules!, helped grow Google’s workforce from 6,000 to 76,000 in the past decade. At the SHRM conference this summer, Bock offered these tips for HR.

10 steps to ‘Millennialize’ your recruiting and retention strategies

07/27/2017
Creating a more casual dress code and doing away with cubicles may help draw the attention of some younger job candidates. But real improvement in recruiting and retaining of Millennials must go deeper, focusing on helping people build trust and connection to their work.

Missing exec might have taken ‘hundreds of thousands’

07/21/2017
A retirement community for University of Minnesota employees is abuzz with rumors after a senior executive vanished after he was fired in the wake of a criminal investigation.

Telecommuting: A search for equilibrium

07/20/2017
Even as the overall numbers of telecommuting employees rises, some companies are reconsidering their telecommuting policies. The fluid situation suggests that there is no one-size-fits-all policy that covers the who, how and when of telecommuting.

Details matter when documenting discipline

07/19/2017
Smart employers make sure they document—in advance—the underlying reasons for any disciplinary actions. When preparing documentation, be sure to provide all the details, especially if two employees committed arguably similar offenses but were punished differently.

Discipline calls for language that cites objective shortcomings, not editorial opinions

07/13/2017
When disciplining employees, try to stick to objective facts. For example, if a worker isn’t abiding by a dress code, state what rule she is violating. Keep the editorial comments to yourself.

Prepare to justify discipline occurring after employee complains about discrimination

07/13/2017
Simply put, a bad review all by itself isn’t usually grounds for a lawsuit in most cases. However, punishing someone with a bad review because they complained about discrimination may land you in legal trouble.