• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR LAW Weekly
  • The HR Weekly
  • California Employment Law
  • New York Employment Law
  • Texas Employment Law

HRIS / Technology

Online learning: Back-to-school picks

08/17/2010
Autumn brings with it a “back to school” feeling that can be sated only with a seminar or course. And there’s no easier, more affordable source for online learning than iTunes. Find out about this new, free training resource that just might work in your organization.

Don’t ban staff use of social media–exploit it

08/11/2010
Matt Kaiser, VP of NAS Recruitment Communication, encourages employers to create policies and procedures to help employees take advantage of social media. “Your employees are going to be the best way to build your powerful employee brand,” said Kaiser. “Give employees advice on what to do—not just what not to do.…”

Use benefits checklist to smooth new-hire onboarding

07/29/2010
New employees have lots on their minds when they first start working. While making the right benefits choices and completing the necessary paperwork is ultimately the employee’s responsibility, HR can give a kick in the pants by providing a checklist like this one.

It’s time to review your e-monitoring policies

07/27/2010
A long-awaited Supreme Court ruling has reiterated the importance of all employers to draft and enforce a comprehensive electronic communications policy governing how employees can use e-mail, the Internet, cell phones and text services.

May we check an employee message sent from work to his personal e-mail?

07/23/2010
Q. One of our sales managers thinks a salesperson has been e-mailing confidential customer information to his personal e-mail address. Can we review the salesperson’s sent-messages file on the company’s e-mail server to see what he has been sending out?

Can we use GPS cell phones to track employees without telling them?

07/23/2010
Q. Our employees have company-issued cell phones with global positioning systems capabilities. Can we use the GPS to track employees’ movements without telling them we are doing so?

Am I allowed to check social media web sites for information on job applicants?

07/23/2010
Q. Is it OK for me to consider information about a job applicant that I learn by using Google, viewing Facebook pages and reviewing Twitter feeds?

HR lessons learned the hard way: Don’t blindly trust your FMLA software

07/20/2010
As FMLA administration grows more complex, more employers are using software to track it. Most of the time that works fine. But as one employer recently found out, FMLA apps don’t always tell the whole story. Lesson learned: There’s no substitute for doing a hands-on review of employee records.

Text messages and employee privacy: The Supreme Court weighs in

07/20/2010

The U.S. Supreme Court has held that a police department’s search of an officer’s text messages was reasonable and didn’t violate the officer’s Fourth Amendment rights. The court said that even if the officer had a reasonable expectation of privacy in his text messages, the search was motivated by a legitimate work-related purpose and was not excessive in scope.

Retain e-mails after receiving EEOC complaint

07/09/2010

When sued, employers must preserve all evidence in their possession that may concern the lawsuit and its underlying claims. That means that as soon as you receive an EEOC complaint, you should issue a litigation hold directing the retention of all electronic communications, such as e-mails. Don’t let employees make their own decisions about which e-mails they should keep.