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Employee Relations

Managers: Don’t sit on harassment claim, notify designated person

11/01/2002
When does a company officially “know” of a harassment complaint? It’s not always when the complaint is lodged with the designated person in your reporting procedures. If your lower-level managers get …

Reach out to staff: Workers more receptive to union appeals

11/01/2002
Now’s the time to improve your employee relations. Reason: Labor unions see opportunity in the current anti-corporate mood, and they’re hoping to ride this wave of public distrust to victories in …

Retaliation threat doesn’t erase time limit for filing lawsuit

11/01/2002
Wal-Mart employee Stephanie Beckel complained to a general manager that her supervisor was sexually harassing her. When the general manager told her not to discuss the matter with anyone but himself …

Casual comments put you on FMLA notice

10/01/2002
Reginald Moore, a security-guard supervisor at a Virginia courthouse, told his boss he needed time off to care for his wife who had emphysema. A few months later, Moore said he …

Labor Department offers Spanish-language FMLA poster

10/01/2002
Covered employers are required to post a “Your Rights Under the FMLA” poster and are expected to communicate the basics about the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to employees who …

The WARN Act: Notify staff before large-scale layoffs

10/01/2002
The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act requires certain employers to give employees 60 days notice before a plant closing or mass layoff. Some states also have plant-closure laws that add additional mandates.

Investigating workplace harassment: 10 steps to success

10/01/2002
When complaints of workplace harassment arise, as they inevitably do, managers and HR directors are called upon to respond. Doing this right is a high-stakes venture. Here are 10 steps to …

Don’t silence or punish workers who compare their pay

09/01/2002
A marketing director at one of Covenant Care’s nursing facilities attended a meeting of other marketing directors in the company. During the meeting, she joined other directors in a brief discussion …

NLRB shake-up may cause reversals on key cases

09/01/2002
You can expect some good news from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Reason: If the Senate confirms a new slate of Bush appointees to the NLRB, it will be the …

When Can You Fire a Disabled Worker?

09/01/2002

Q. We’ve had a disabled worker on staff for five years. He’s consistently absent or tardy and has trouble working with others and keeping up his job duties. We adjusted his hours, but his poor work forced us to reassign some of his duties and even hire another person to help carry the load. What can we do? —F.F., Texas