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HR Management

It’s not all bad news when NLRB rules on social media

09/28/2011
The National Labor Relations Board has been taking a close look at how em­ployers react when they don’t like what their employees post on Facebook. Sur­­prisingly, employers have won several of those cases.

Metro North blasted, fined for misclassifying worker injury

09/28/2011
OSHA has ordered Metro North Commuter Rail to pay more than $141,000 to a worker after an investigation concluded that the railroad purposely misclassified the worker’s injury and then denied him a promotion as a result.

Best reason to retain personnel documents: Employees–and courts–have long memories

09/28/2011

Would you know how to counter evidence about events that occurred two, three or more years ago? Employees often go back years to come up with circumstantial evidence that their employers are biased.

Fire if you must, but always be ready to defend decision

09/22/2011
Sometimes, you have no choice but to fire an employee. Every one of those discharges is a fresh chance to be sued by a disgruntled former employee. For each type of termination, there are some common ways employers can make sure they can defend themselves if challenged.

What’s the NLRB’s real stance on employees’ social media criticism of employers?

09/21/2011
Q. We’ve heard about the National Labor Relations Board’s focus on an employee’s right to post critical work-related comments on Facebook. However, we also heard that the NLRB has started to limit its view on whether such comments are protected concerted activity. What’s going on? 

Worker, boss broke same rule? Punish them equally

09/21/2011
Here’s a case that shows how not to handle a discharge based on alleged wrongdoing on the part of a super­visor and his subordinate.

End the silence: The case against secret salaries

09/21/2011

It’s a golden rule in most businesses: Salaries must be kept secret. It’s almost universally accepted that mayhem would ensue in the workplace if people knew what their co-workers, their managers or—gasp—the CEO was making. Three major reasons why secret salaries are silly, according to consultant Alexander Kjerulf:

Case study: 5 signs that an HR director is in trouble

09/20/2011
Perhaps the biggest reason why Pfizer CEO Jeff Kindler was pushed out of his job last year was that he trusted the wrong person to serve as the HR director. Here are five signs that an HR chief is trouble—and they’re not just unique to Pfizer:

7 steps to help prevent and address workplace bullying

09/16/2011
We all knew schoolyard bullies, and, if we were lucky, they left us alone. Sadly, research indicates many workers are targets of “workyard” bullies. And workplace bullying comes with significant costs.

Returning soldiers must follow your policies

09/16/2011

Soldiers who take military leave for active service or training are generally entitled to return to their jobs when they finish their military service. They even have protection from being terminated without cause if they served long enough. But USERRA does not protect employees who fail to follow existing company rules when they return or try to return.