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HRIS / Technology

IT administrator helped himself to $580,000 worth of data

01/01/2008

William Sullivan, senior database administrator for Certegy Check Services of St. Petersburg, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy and fraud in connection with the theft of confidential data on more than 8.4 million customers over a five-year period …

To google or not: Legitimate screening method or privacy breach?

01/01/2008

The popularity of Internet blogs and social networking sites such as MySpace, LinkedIn, Facebook and Friendster is causing confusion and concern for some employers. At a time when it’s easy to search the web for information on just about anyone, what steps should a reasonable employer take to investigate the background of an employee? …

OMG, TWD is nothing to LOL about; Set a policy to stop ‘Texting while driving’

01/01/2008

Even if you already have a policy that bans chatting on cell phones while driving on company business—or at least requires hands-free devices—you should prohibit texting or surfing the web while driving, too. Train your staff and use e-mail reminders …

Does sexual harassment lurk in e-Mail? Can you disprove it?

01/01/2008

In the age of e-mail, instant messaging and other written but ephemeral forms of communication, it’s easy to be caught off guard when an employee claims sexual harassment via the company computers. If an employee says she’s received hundreds of sexually explicit e-mails from co-workers or others associated with the company, could you prove her wrong? …

Recruiting via big job boards: 6 tips from your peers

01/01/2008

A reader of the Forum section of our free HR Weekly e-letter posed this question: “We’re considering using the big job boards, but I worry we’ll be buried in résumés from every unemployed person. How can we advertise most effectively?” Here’s how some HR professionals replied …

Paper, shmaper! As résumés go high-Tech, so should HR

12/11/2007

Your organization could be missing out on some top talent if you shrug off the new high-tech applications and résumé tools that could someday make paper résumés obsolete. Here are some of the more popular high-tech methods that candidates (especially young ones) are using to market themselves, plus some of the advantages and disadvantages of welcoming them …

Stolen disc costs two jobs, plus a week of vacation

12/01/2007

An Ohio Office of Management and Budget intern was fired, and a manager has resigned after someone broke into the intern’s car and stole a computer disc containing sensitive state payroll and accounting information …

E-mails and messages may come back to haunt managers

12/01/2007

Increasingly, courts hearing discrimination cases order employers to turn over e-mails and text messages. These communications may include correspondence employees may have sent or received from clients and customers. One reason is that federal court rules on electronic discovery now require employers to retain vast amounts of information for use in litigation …

An e-mail from the EEOC? Don’t be so sure; Agency warns of phony ‘Trojan horse’ virus

12/01/2007

Corporate HR offices across the country began receiving e-mails last month that appeared to be from the EEOC but were actually bogus—and potentially dangerous …

Going paperless: Can personnel records be electronic?

12/01/2007

Q. We’re drowning in paper and would like to go paperless. Can we create strictly electronic personnel and payroll records? — T.P., Indiana …