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Productivity / Performance

What should we consider as we implement a community service evaluation measure?

09/23/2009

Q. Our CEO just implemented a new employee evaluation goal that calls for employees to do charitable volunteer work throughout the year. The more they volunteer, the higher the points they receive on their review, ultimately increasing their salaries. Can we do this without risk?

Can we require psychological counseling?

09/23/2009

Q. Can we require an employee to receive psychological counseling or treatment if his behavior has become a hindrance to his job performance?

Teach bosses right way to handle doctor notes

09/18/2009

Some supervisors become visibly annoyed when receiving a doctor’s note that sets work restrictions on one of their employees. If the employee sees that reaction and then suffers discipline or termination soon after, watch out! He or she could link the timing of the two events as evidence of discrimination or retaliation.

Beware bloated résumés: Extra skills don’t necessarily mean better-qualified person

09/18/2009

Employees who want a promotion sometimes get upset when they aren’t selected, especially if the job winds up going to someone they perceive as less skilled or talented. But if the spurned employee’s extra skills or training weren’t necessary, they aren’t particularly relevant.

Must we reassign disabled worker to a new job?

09/18/2009

Q. We have an employee who just developed a disability that will keep him from performing his job for an unknown time. After he uses up his FMLA and other accumulated leave, do we have an obligation to look for another position for him?

Preparing your workplace for a possible swine flu pandemic

09/15/2009

The United States is facing a swine flu outbreak that has caused the government to declare a public health emergency. Recently, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published new guidelines to help employers prepare for flu season and prevent the rapid spread of the H1N1 influenza. Here are the CDC’s suggestions, plus insight on your risks and obligations as an employer …

Keep Facebook from frittering away employee productivity

09/15/2009

A new study estimates that nearly two-thirds of Facebook users access the site at work. On average, they spend 15 minutes on the site during work hours, and the electronic back-and-forth could represent as much as 1.5% of an employer’s productivity losses. The good news: You can stop it.

Age discrimination harder to prove following 7th Circuit ruling

09/14/2009

The 7th Circuit’s recent opinion in Martino v. MCI represents the first opportunity for that court to apply the U.S. Supreme Court’s recently clarified standard for determining liability in disparate-treatment cases brought under the ADEA. Together, the two decisions make it harder for employees to win some age discrimination lawsuits.

Don’t nickel and dime ADA accommodations: Everything can’t be essential to the job

09/14/2009

Employers sometimes think they can get around the ADA requirements by calling every task in a job description “essential.” They hope they’ll be able to exclude anyone who can’t do absolutely every aspect of the job. But that strategy can backfire badly because not every task is essential.

Asperger’s syndrome may be an ADA disability

09/08/2009

Asperger’s syndrome may be a covered disability under the ADA, a federal court hearing an Ohio case has concluded. Asperger’s is a developmental disability characterized by “severe and sustained impairments in social interaction,” according to the American Psychiatric Association. The condition is permanent and is similar in some respects to autism.