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HR Management

Do we need to provide a ‘sick couch’?

12/23/2009

Q. Are we required to provide a couch or cot on the premises in the event that an employee becomes ill? Are there any laws that dictate safety or health reasons for doing this?

EEOC targets teen harassment; Ruby Tuesday pays $255,000

12/23/2009

The Ruby Tuesday casual dining chain has agreed to pay $255,000 to a group of teenage girls who worked at its East Stroudsburg restaurant after the EEOC filed a lawsuit accusing a manager there of sexual harassment.

Settlement ends bias suit against Wyomissing company

12/23/2009

Wyomissing-based industrial fastener and tool maker SFS Intec has agreed to settle an EEOC discrimination lawsuit arising at a plant in Ohio. Two Hispanic employees complained of being denied training opportunities that were open to non-Hispanics.

5 steps help prevent workplace violence

12/22/2009

An effective workplace violence prevention program begins with employee screening and ends with publicizing a tough anti-violence policy. Here’s a primer on reducing the chances of employee violence erupting at your workplace. You can also download our Workplace Violence Prevention Toolkit, containing proven violence-prevention strategies and sample policies.

Encourage ethical behavior as economy recovers

12/18/2009

This recession seems to have an upside: Employees are behaving better. Don’t get too excited; the uptick in ethical behavior is probably temporary. Still, HR pros and organizational leaders can try to keep the upswing going. The best way to do that is to make creating an ethical culture a business priority. Here are a few recommendations:

When should we request fitness-for-duty exam?

12/18/2009

Q. One of our employees recently told her supervisor that she has a heart condition. She went home early the other day because she wasn’t feeling well. Can we request that she get a doctor’s note clearing her to work?

Document your concern about employee before ordering a fitness-for-duty exam

12/17/2009

The ADA prohibits employers from demanding fitness-for-duty exams unless the exams are “job related and consistent with business necessity.” Employers can demand an exam if they have a reasonable belief that an employee’s medical condition will impair his or her ability to perform essential job functions or will pose a safety threat. If you believe either is the case, document your objective and reasonable beliefs before demanding the exam.

As boomers gray, savvy employers could see silver lining

12/16/2009

In 2011, the first of the baby boom generation will turn 65. As the rest of the roughly 70 million baby boomers follow, we’ll see a major shift in the age of our society—and our workforces. To survive and thrive in the face of these new demographic realities, employers will need to retain employees well older than the traditional retirement age of 65. Here are some areas on which employers will need to focus to help retain older workers:

Keep the faith: You can accommodate religions in the workplace

12/15/2009

Two employees ask their boss to ax the company Christmas tree. A worker refuses to trim his dreadlocks, saying they are essential to his practice of Rastafari. A cashier insists she has a right to tell customers, “Have a blessed day.” Those cases have all wound up being tried in court. Employers can’t treat employees differently because of their religion, but that doesn’t mean religious accommodation is easy.

Supreme Court to decide: Are employees’ personal text messages private?

12/15/2009

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear a case that could settle the contentious issue of whether employers have a right to read personal text messages employees send using employer-provided equipment and bandwidth. It’s yet another bump in the evolving landscape of employee use of technology at work (the topic, by the way, of this week’s HR Specialist webinar, "Employees Online: Social Media at Work").