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HR Management

The do’s and don’ts of giving and receiving holiday gifts

12/01/2009

Q. Are there any legal issues regarding employee gift-giving during the holidays? What about giving or getting gifts from vendors?

Holiday parties: 12 tips for making sure liability doesn’t hang over your head

12/01/2009

Every year around this time, the Ghost of Christmas Parties Past comes clanking down the hallway, dragging a chain of liability dread for employers. The biggest nightmare: alcohol-fueled misbehavior and mishaps. Here are 12 tips to ensure that what’s supposed to be the best of times doesn’t turn into the worst of times.

Nursing home plays doctor, will pay for pregnancy bias

12/01/2009

Charlotte-based Lawyers Glen retirement home has agreed to pay $20,000 to settle a pregnancy discrimination complaint brought by one of its nursing aides. When Ashley Wilhelm told her supervisor she was pregnant, she soon found herself working fewer hours. The reduction continued throughout her pregnancy, even though her physician certified she could work full time up until she gave birth.

Don’t let tough times affect basic safety

12/01/2009

These days, most employers are focusing hard on increasing per-employee output. By some measures, it’s working: Government statistics show large jumps in employee productivity. But some of those gains come when employees cut workplace safety corners to get more done. Don’t let that happen.

Holiday help for HR professionals

12/01/2009

Here’s a round-up of HR advice to heed as the holidays roll around. Click on the links below for answers to holiday questions posed by our readers, as well as a slew of tips to keep things festive without finding a subpeona in your stocking:

Beverage maker retains moms with range of flex benefits

11/28/2009

Three-quarters of the women employees who got promoted last year at alcoholic beverage maker Diageo had flexible work schedules, including job sharing, flextime, compressed hours and telework. Among all female workers at the company, half reduced their hours at some point during the year, and 60% used flextime.

Texting while driving a no-go for Pennsylvania auditors

11/26/2009

Auditors who work for the Pennsylvania state government are no longer allowed to text while driving. The state’s auditor general, who said the practice is not a problem for auditors in particular, issued the ban because of rising concerns about safety risks.

2008 collapse drops $500,000 in fines on mine operator

11/25/2009

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration has issued five citations to UAE Coalcorp Associates following its investigation of a fatal 2008 mine roof collapse at Harmony Mine in Northumberland County.

Your ‘good faith’ goes a long way toward fair religious accommodations

11/24/2009

As the workforce grows more diverse, so do the religious practices that employers may be asked to accommodate.
Consider a policy that clearly sets out how to request time off for religious practices, and establish a mechanism for deciding who gets priority. It may not be possible for everyone to get their desired time off, but as long as you don’t discriminate against a particular religion, reasonable limits are likely to stand up in court.

Questions and answers about H1N1 flu and wage-and-hour laws

11/24/2009

If H1N1 flu threatens to shut down businesses nationwide, employers are going to need contingency plans to make sure they keep running. Flexible work schedules, temporary shutdowns and telework can all help—but all have unexpected wage-and-hour implications. Here’s guidance from the Department of Labor on how to handle these tricky issues.