• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

HR Management

Tap into new online portal for I-9 resources

06/09/2011
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services last month unveiled I-9 Central, a new online resource center that pulls together all the agency’s information and advice about Form I-9, Employee Eligibility Verification.

What can we do to protect ourselves? A worker leveled threats after we fired him

06/08/2011
Q. We recently fired an employee because of insubordination and anger-management issues. The termination meeting, not surprisingly, didn’t go well and the employee became very agitated. He made some statements that could be interpreted as vague threats against his supervisor and our company. Is there anything we can or should do to protect ourselves from this former employee?

Court upholds $40 million verdict for Xcel lineman

06/08/2011
A lineman for Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy will collect $40 million from Qwest Telephone as a result of a 2004 accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down.

Fight unemployment benefits if employee quits because of unsubstantiated safety fears

06/08/2011
An employee who reports a serious safety hazard and stops coming to work after the employer refuses to fix the hazard may collect unemployment benefits. But that’s not true if the employee doesn’t give the employer a chance to remedy the problem and just quits out of fear.

Applicant shortage? Blame North Dakota

06/08/2011

Minnesota employers may be finding fewer qualified applicants to fill their available job openings. The labor shortage isn’t because the state’s economy is suddenly booming again. It’s because employers in neighboring North Dakota are dipping into the Minnesota talent pool.

Hire education: Your step-by-step guide to legal hiring practices

06/07/2011
Employers operate in an increasingly complex legal environment, made all the more difficult by the tough economy. Hiring has emerged as a particular trouble spot. Here are the key liability hot spots you must watch out for in the hiring process.

Hey, boss, call HR! Warn managers: Don’t fix complaints informally

06/07/2011

When supervisors hear someone complaining about sexual or other harassment, they may be tempted to blow it off or tell the co-workers involved to stop it. That’s not good enough. To prevent a successful employee lawsuit, you must impress on first-line supervisors and managers that it’s their responsibility to report any sexual harassment complaint to HR or other appropriate company official.

Now hiring: Brace for today’s skills mismatch

06/07/2011
Just because your organization is ready to hire again doesn’t mean it will be easy to find the right people to fill your available jobs. Here are four realities you’re almost certain to face as you try to fill the vacancies in your organization:

Bipolar worker making threats: Accommodate or terminate?

06/07/2011

In the past few months, several Holly­wood celebrities—including Cath­erine Zeta-Jones and Demi Lovato—have publicly announced they suffer from bipolar disorder, a mental illness defined by high and low mood swings. But what if a bipolar employee ex­­hibits threatening behavior—can you discipline her, or must you accommodate the disability?

Your 10-point checklist to ensure an NLRA-compliant handbook

06/06/2011
A poorly written or overly broad handbook could result in unfair labor practices charges from the National Labor Relations Board. That’s true even if your workforce isn’t unionized. Review your handbook for policies relating to the following 10 “red flags” that attract the NLRB’s attention.