Employee Relations

5 questions to test your culture

05/21/2017

Trying to motivate employees with games, incentives and pizza parties might work to some extent. But lasting results only come from fully engaged staffers who believe in the organizational culture.

Political talk plagues work months after U.S. election

05/19/2017

American workers are even more likely to say they are feeling stressed and cynical because of political discussions at work now than they were before the 2016 presidential election, according to a survey by the American Psychological Association.

Past discipline record beats retaliation claim

05/17/2017

Here’s another good reason to consistently document all disciplinary actions: If an employee with a history of problems such as rules violations later engages in protected activity, it will be hard for him to show that the discipline was retaliation for engaging in that protected activity.

Purged disciplinary record doesn’t mean it can’t be considered in future litigation

05/16/2017

Acourt considering whether an employee suffered an adverse employment action has rejected the notion that reinstating an employee and expunging his record somehow makes his earlier discharge irrelevant.

Old reviews don’t trump recent performance

05/10/2017

Employees who are fired for poor performance sometimes challenge the decision by citing previous performance reviews showing that they were good workers. Courts don’t always buy it, especially if the employer can show that the good evaluations happened under another supervisor or in different circumstances.

After complaint is filed, be sure to justify all discipline

04/25/2017

If an employee complains about discrimination, make sure any subsequent discipline is well justified. Sudden discipline against a worker whose record was previously clean can be viewed as retaliation.

Document circumstances before discipline, as well as punishment that you imposed

04/25/2017

Generally, if an employer operates in a fair and equitable fashion, there’s very little room for an employee to file and win a discrimination lawsuit. But how can HR know whether supervisors are imposing balanced discipline without regard to race, sex, religion or other protected characteristics?

ADA: The Limits of Accommodation

04/22/2017

White Paper published by The HR Specialist ______________________ The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) isn’t an open-ended demand that employers do whatever is necessary to accommodate workers with disabilities. The law requires employers to make “reasonable” accommodations to allow a disabled worker to perform the essential functions of his job. The key question: What is […]

Snapshot: Telecommuters are less engaged

04/15/2017

Forty-three percent of employees work from home at least some of the time, and 20% are full-time telecommuters.

What makes employees whistle while they work

04/14/2017

Here are things that all workers seek in a workplace, and how those things rate on the “happy” meter.