HR Management

Lesson of Hurricane Sandy: It’s time to update your crisis-management plan

10/30/2012

Hurricane Sandy is a powerful reminder: Natural (and man-made) disasters can threaten at any time. Smart employers make contingency plans so they can stay up and running even when normal work operations are disrupted. Here are eight key pieces to a crisis-management plan, which you can coordinate with the appropriate departments.

Employee needs help: What can we do?

10/27/2012

Q. Can we suggest psychiatric help for an employee we suspect may be having trouble with substance abuse? And can we require a random drug test?

Cyber Monday is looming: Recirculate your online policy

10/26/2012

Cyber Monday, the online version of deal-hunting Black Friday, is Nov. 26. Last holiday season, 50% of people said they spent time shopping online at work. Clarify your expectations and company policy with employees before the holidays begin.

What are California’s requirements for providing sexual harassment training?

10/22/2012

Q. We know that we are required to conduct sexual harassment training for our employees. But we’re not sure which of our employees we are required to train and what formats we can use to provide the training.

New state law limits access to employee social media info

10/22/2012

Starting Jan. 1, California employers may no longer require or request employees or job applicants to reveal their social media user names, passwords or other account information.

Is this asking for trouble? Our sick policy requires a doctor’s note containing a diagnosis

10/18/2012

Q. Our policy states employees must provide a doctor’s note if they take sick leave of three or more days. Are we violating any laws by demanding the doctor’s note, which includes a diagnosis?

‘Flex’ benefits business, not just employees

10/16/2012

Flex is becoming as coveted by businesses as it is by employees. Organizations, it seems, need as much flexibility when it comes to staffing as employees do when it comes to balancing work with personal commitments. Here are seven ways your organization can benefit as much as its employees do from offering time-and-place flexibility.

Beat retaliation suit with good HR records

10/15/2012

Employees who suspect they are facing discipline sometimes think they can stop the process by complaining about some form of alleged discrimination. At the very least, they reason, they can claim they suffered retaliation for reporting discrimination. Smart employers keep careful records showing the internal timeline for all employment decisions.

Half of firms delaying decisions until after election

10/15/2012

Is your organization putting off major decisions—whether to add or reduce staff, make a major investment, etc.—until after the Nov. 6 election? If so, you’re not alone.

How long should an agency investigation take?

10/12/2012

Q. A discrimination charge was filed against my company almost two years ago. We responded to the charge and provided the requested information. We haven’t heard anything for more than 18 months. My boss is worried and wants the process over with. Should I try to find out what’s going on, or just leave it alone?