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Employee Relations

Prison guard not entitled to indefinite light duty

08/01/2007

Employers are not required to provide a light-duty position indefinitely, the New Jersey Supreme Court recently ruled, overturning an Appellate Division decision. A Gloucester County corrections officer was diagnosed with Graves’ disease, which gave him double vision and prevented him from working in contact with inmates …

Document elements of exempt position to knock down FLSA claims

08/01/2007

Winning Fair Labor Standards Act cases involving employees who claim they shouldn’t have been classified as exempt usually means being able to document exactly what employees do on the job and the conditions under which they work …

What Makes an Environment ‘Hostile’?

08/01/2007

Q. What factors determine whether an environment is “hostile”? …

Not all absences are equal; punishment needn’t be either

08/01/2007

You know you can’t go easy on one person for attendance problems and come down hard on another for the same offense—especially if he or she belongs to a protected class. But, as the following case shows, courts will conclude a discipline process wasn’t discriminatory if you can show that tardiness or absenteeism affected important work goals, such as productivity …

Mere psychiatric diagnosis does not a disability make

08/01/2007

Not everyone who has a diagnosed psychiatric condition is disabled and entitled to protection under the ADA. Before you authorize reasonable accommodations or allow a psychiatric condition to become an excuse for poor performance, decide whether the condition rises to the level of a covered disability …

Evaluating employee performance without creating legal liability

08/01/2007

Performance evaluations are important tools to help employers gauge whether employees are performing at expected levels. They can help organizations spot talent and leadership potential, while identifying areas where employees need extra training and support. Evaluations also can protect employers from frivolous lawsuits filed by employees who claim they’ve been demoted, fired or otherwise unfairly treated when the real reason was poor performance …

Improve your time management: 6 tips for managers

07/31/2007
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It IS rocket science: Learn from NASA how to prevent ‘Brain drain’ at your company

07/31/2007

Use NASA’s seven-question approach to help stem the loss of critical knowledge at your organization…

Will ‘Bullying Victim’ Become The Next Protected Category?

07/30/2007

Several states are debating legislation that would make “workplace bullying” an illegal practice, like discrimination or harassment. Passage of such bills would increase your liability risks and force you to referee personality disputes. Here’s the status of the legislation, and how your organization should respond …

Personnel records versus investigation records

07/20/2007

Q One of our employees has just filed a complaint with the company claiming that she has been sexually harassed. We are concerned that if we discipline the alleged harasser based on our findings and note this incident in his personnel file, he may demand to inspect our investigation records. May we avoid this by maintaining a separate investigation file?