HRIS / Technology

Go ahead and set up employee surveillance, but be careful how you pick your spots

02/02/2009

What should you do if you suspect an employee is goofing off at work or perhaps sleeping at his desk? One employer recently took the high-tech approach to that problem, setting up a surveillance camera to catch an employee in the act. It worked, but it took a trip to court to finally put this case to bed.

Inside job: Did Houston firm swipe trade secrets?

02/02/2009

Multinational materials processing company Saint-Gobain is suing a Houston competitor, Centronic LLC, and two former Saint-Gobain employees, alleging they illegally brought proprietary information with them when they went to work for Centronic.

Add some pizazz to your personal LinkedIn profile

01/27/2009

While some Web 2.0 tools are about socializing and idea swapping, LinkedIn is the only tool completely devoted to business networking. Nurturing your online presence could lead to job offers, new knowledge or a beefed-up reputation as an expert. Here’s how to get the most out of your LinkedIn profile.

Online HR master’s degree: Is it worth it? Which school is best?

01/27/2009

If you want to pursue an HR master’s degree but the nearest accredited program is too far away, consider earning your degree online. The quality of such programs has improved dramatically in recent years. Also, online programs allow you to earn the degree from anywhere at your own pace. Here are the pros and cons of earning an online degree.

Employee wrongly snared in e-mail scandal to receive $25,000

01/09/2009

The City of New York has agreed to pay $25,000 to William Hallowell, a former library assistant at Riverdale Country School in the Bronx, for arresting him following an e-mail mix-up at work.

Free laptops result in fewer snow days

01/05/2009

Standard & Poor’s has come up with a solution to snow days for employees of its Centennial, Colo., office: laptops. The credit ratings firm gives a laptop computer to any Centennial employee who wants to work from home during foul weather.

More snooping, followed by bill

01/05/2009

Verizon Wireless admitted in November that company employees snuck a peek at the personal cell phone records of President-elect Barack Obama … Amid ongoing spy reports, the Ohio House of Representatives approved a bill in December designed to safeguard taxpayers’ personal data.

Charlotte-Meck teachers disciplined for Facebook postings

12/31/2008

Offensive postings on the social networking web site Facebook led the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) to fire one employee and discipline seven others.

Are we liable for accidents caused by cell phone use in company vehicles?

12/31/2008

Q. If our employee has an accident while talking on a cell phone in a company car, is the company liable to the injured party?

BlackBerry time: When must you pay for employees’ off-duty PDA hours?

12/24/2008

Hand-held devices, such as BlackBerrys, Trios, iPhones, etc., make it easy for workers to check e-mail and do work at any time of day. And your nonexempt, hourly workers may demand to be paid for that screen-time. So, when must your organization pay nonexempt employees for such off-the-clock work? There’s no clear-cut answer.