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Employee Relations

Don’t require staff to give emergency contact info

03/01/2006

Q. We’re cleaning up our personnel files and updating emergency contact information. Some employees don’t want to provide their contact information. Is it legal for us to require them to give it to us? —S.S., California

Beware of a growing risk: harassment by customers

03/01/2006

Too many employers think harassment is a problem only when it’s an employee-on-employee thing. Recent court rulings prove that you can be held liable even when outsiders harass your employees. Taking action may cost you a customer, but courts say defending employees must come first …

Medication may limit employees’ FMLA reinstatement rights

03/01/2006

What happens if an employee tries to return to work after FMLA leave but isn’t quite recovered? In that case, you can turn the employee away if he or she can’t perform the job’s essential functions. That scenario often plays out when the returning employee’s job involves operating machinery or driving and the person must take medication …

Fitness-for-Duty Letters Trigger Instant Reinstatement

03/01/2006

Must you allow an employee to return after FMLA leave if you don’t think she’s physically ready? She could injure herself if she returns. But if you block her return, you could face a failure-to-reinstate FMLA lawsuit. Begin the return-to-work process earlier to see if she still has the ability to perform the job’s essential functions …

Strong new economic numbers signal upward pressure on wages

03/01/2006

Several important economic indicators released last month suggest that wage growth and a tighter labor market are just around the corner …

Steer Clear of ‘Take It or Leave It’ Early-Retirement Offers

03/01/2006

If you plan to lay off employees, structure early-retirement offers carefully to avoid age-discrimination lawsuits. In particular, avoid making "take-it or leave-it" offers that force employees to choose between resigning with a severance package or being terminated …

Employee Appreciation Day: March 10

02/01/2006

Employers host employee-recognition events throughout the year, but the second Friday in March (March 10 this year) is the official Employee Appreciation Day, according to the Society for Human Resource Management …

Debt by 1,000 Paper Clips: Office-Supply Theft Rises

02/01/2006

Two-thirds of people responding to a Vault.com survey said they’ve taken office supplies from work, and a majority said they don’t consider it stealing …

Set a clear policy on confidential talks with employees

02/01/2006

Should you guarantee employees confidentiality when they voice complaints to you or to supervisors? Blanket promises of confidentiality could blow up in your face; some laws require you to report illegal or unethical conduct …

The 3-Step Method for Giving Clear Instructions

02/01/2006

You may think you’re giving clear instructions, but you lost her back at Step 14a. People want to know three things: 1. What am I supposed to do? 2. By when? 3. In what order? …