Privacy

HIPAA Rules Aren’t Just For Doctors and Hospitals

08/01/2005

Q. I’d like to know if our company needs something like a HIPAA form for employees to sign when we release personal information to others. Is HIPAA only for the medical field? —B.B., New York

Keep staff vacation schedules away from public view

07/01/2005

With summer-vacation season here, you may be tracking employees’ comings and goings using schedules posted on a bulletin board or online. But not everyone thinks so highly of publicly posted …

Tighten policy to foil new identity-theft risks

06/01/2005

If your organization hasn’t taken identity theft seriously, here are two good reasons to start now: Starting June 1, federal law requires you to properly dispose
of employee background-check information …

Post vacation schedules only for employee viewing

06/01/2005

Issue: To assist in planning, organizations often post employee vacation schedules, especially during summer.
Risk: Some employees may protest, saying it’s an invasion of privacy that makes their house more …

Hair samples are a legitimate method of drug tests.

03/01/2005

A police department ordered one if its officers to provide a hair sample for a drug test after it suspected him of using cocaine. The test, which involved shaving a patch …

Make privacy a cornerstone of your culture

03/01/2005

Confidentiality can quickly become a legal issue in many workplace decisions and activities.

It IS your business: Protect domestic-violence victims at work

01/01/2005

Issue: Your role and responsibilities when it comes to domestic violence in the workplace.
Risk: Doing nothing risks lives, safety, morale, lawsuits and your bottom line.
Action: Take the …

Move your career forward by avoiding ‘Foot-in-Mouth’ disease

12/01/2004

Issue: All the talent in the world won’t help if your mouth works against you.
Risk: A penchant to blurt out inappropriate comments at work can undermine your credibility with …

Reinstate employees right after leave; don’t delay

12/01/2004

Issue: Employees’ right to immediate reinstatement when returning from leave covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
Risk: Any delay in returning employees to their jobs after FMLA …

Erase ideas of ‘implied contract’ with repeated at-will statements

11/01/2004

Make sure all versions of your company policies, whether in employee handbooks, online policies or even offer letters, contain clear at-will employment statements.
As this ruling shows, you won’t be …