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HR Management

Extra cheese please, but hold the snot

05/27/2009

As Michael Setzer stuck a piece of cheese up his nose and placed it on the Domino’s sandwich he was preparing, he mugged for Kristy Hammonds’ camera. After Hammonds’ video received more than 550,000 hits on YouTube, the pizza chain mobilized quickly to contain the damage.

How long should we retain employee files?

05/27/2009

Q. How long after employees have left should we retain their files? And if we shred the files, do we have to keep a record of employment date, termination date and any other information?

What are the rules on letting a former employee see her personnel file?

05/27/2009

Q. Are we required to let terminated employees come in and view their personnel files, or can we copy the information and send it via mail? One of our fired employees has hired an attorney and wants to see her file.

Uniform rules: Police can ban religious garb if there’s a public-policy reason

05/27/2009

Police and similar public safety departments can forbid their officers and other uniformed personnel from wearing religious symbols and garb if they provide the right ground rules. But it’s a thorny issue that’s worth giving plenty of consideration.

Win harassment claims by keeping good records

05/27/2009

Employers that have anti-harassment policies and clearly communicate them already have a leg up. But the real winners are employers that also carefully track every harassment complaint. They increase their odds of winning harassment cases because they can show whether an employee complained about behavior when it happened.

Threats at work: You can punish, even if weapon turns out to be a toy

05/27/2009

You probably have workplace rules that ban weapons in the workplace and don’t allow employees into the building with guns or knives. And that rule probably spells out that you will terminate an employee who threatens or displays a weapon at work. But what if the ‘‘weapon’’ turns out to be a toy?

Fired for using ‘N-word’, news anchor sues

05/27/2009

WTXF TV news anchor Tom Burlington has sued his former employer claiming discrimination after he was fired for using the “N-word” in an editorial meeting called at the Philadelphia station to discuss a news story about a mock funeral to bury the “N-word.”

Employers must record at-work ‘horseplay’ injuries

05/27/2009

If your organization is required to keep track of employees’ injuries, take note of a new OSHA interpretation letter. It confirms that injuries suffered at the workplace as a result of “horseplay” and certain other nonwork-related activities must be recorded in OSHA logs, as long as the injury meets regular recording criteria.

And you think your office fridge is gross!

05/27/2009

Maybe you’ve joked that the contents of your workplace refrigerator constitute a toxic-waste cleanup site. At the AT&T building in San Jose last month, that was no joke.

How can we prevent co-worker harassment from escalating into violence?

05/27/2009

Q. A co-worker is harassing one of our employees, and we are concerned it may get violent. What can we do about this?