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Employment Law

Workplace CSI: the anatomy of a successful investigatory interview

01/09/2009

A solid investigation is the cornerstone of any decision to discipline an employee. One of the most important and effective tools available in conducting an investigation is the investigatory interview. Here’s how to conduct one.

Termination and the right to see records

01/09/2009

Q. In New York, does a terminated employee have the right to see his personnel file or other documents?

Are there limits on the kind of political activity employees can engage in?

01/09/2009

Q. In New York, can an employee be prohibited from engaging in political activity?

Must we pay for short smoking breaks?

01/09/2009

Q. Would a brief clock-out (initiated by the employee) of less than 20 minutes, such as an impromptu smoking break or personal phone call break, need to be paid as work time?

Do we have to pay health insurance opt-out bonus during FMLA leave?

01/09/2009

Q. Our company offers a health insurance opt-out incentive, paying employees $400 a month if they use their spouses’ insurance plans. We now have an employee going out on FMLA maternity leave. Do we have to keep paying her $400 per month?

Can we deduct personal leave for exempt worker’s partial-day absence?

01/09/2009

Q. Some of our supervisors make their exempt employees take personal or sick leave for every minute they miss from work, even if they work a regular schedule the rest of the week. Can we safely do that?

DOL issues new FMLA poster: Get your free copy here

01/08/2009

The U.S. Department of Labor has issued a new FMLA poster to go along with the new FMLA rules that will take effect Jan. 16. Don’t waste budget dollars buying new posters from HR vendors. You can download the official version for free right here.

OSHA adds teeth to protective equipment standards

01/06/2009

The stakes just got higher for employers that fail to provide appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) or give employees the necessary safety training. For every PPE and training violation, multiply the OSHA fine by the number of employees affected.

Workers gone wild … and the legal lessons to be learned

01/06/2009

Employees do the darnedest things, and HR frequently winds up trying to undo the damage. One of the highlights of HR Specialist’s upcoming Labor and Employment Law Advanced Practices Symposium will be a session on “The Most Bizarre Recent Workplace Cases—and What You Can Learn from Them.” Here’s our take on the topic, with cases pulled from the pages of HR Specialist newsletters.

Promote civility, but watch for discrimination

01/05/2009

How much effort should the HR office put into getting everyone to get along? The best approach is to let employees handle most social conflicts among themselves—as long as there are no overt signs of discrimination.