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HR Management

Your next job: An HR consultant?

04/27/2009

Although it may seem counterintuitive, there are many good reasons to launch a one-person HR consultancy as the economy sputters. Despite the layoffs and budget cuts, downsized organizations are still hiring HR consultants and contractors to perform a range of basic services.

Length of layoff: How long until it hurts your career?

04/27/2009

Being out of a job for an extended period no longer carries the stigma it once did for top managers, says a new Robert Half Management survey.

Don’t make juries use their imaginations! Tell decision-makers to keep interview notes

04/22/2009

Months or even years after the fact, it can be hard for managers to remember what happened during a job or promotion interview. That can be a problem if they have to recall in court the interview and the decisions that resulted. And that can add up to unconvincing testimony, which can cause juries to doubt their sincerity and honesty—and therefore conclude the organization was discriminating.

Left behind: Consider RIF effects on your other employees

04/22/2009

Your business has crunched the numbers, considered the alternatives and come to the conclusion that layoffs are necessary if the business is to remain afloat during these challenging economic times. But how much thought have you given to your remaining employees who are about to watch their friends and colleagues lose their jobs?

Avoid ADA ‘regarded-as’ problems: Don’t mark ‘disabled’ on files

04/22/2009

Employers that “regard” people as disabled and then discriminate by firing them or refusing to hire them in the first place will face lawsuits—even if it turns out those applicants and employees aren’t actually disabled. That’s a key part of the ADA.

When an employee gets married, do we need new forms?

04/22/2009

Q. When employees get married, do we need new W-4s to show the new name? And do we need new I-9s?

What are the privacy rules when searching an employee? We suspect theft

04/22/2009

Q. Can we open an employee’s personal space or belongings—such as her locker, purse or desk drawer—if we suspect she is stealing?

Vacation, PTO and unexpected Saturday work: How should we pay?

04/22/2009

Q. We have a nonexempt salaried employee who normally works Monday through Friday. We pay her biweekly. She took a weeklong vacation, which normally would come out of her paid time off (PTO) bank. We had a customer emergency and called her into work on the Saturday of her vacation week. How should we pay her? …

Turn Gen Y’s ‘unreasonable’ requests into a negotiating tool

04/21/2009

The two biggest comp and benefits myths about Generation Y employees—your youngest workers—are that they don’t care about money … and that they care only about money. They want more than that. In fact, they want way more. Use their demands as a negotiating tool, and watch the productivity of these young, tech-savvy go-getters soar in response.

Returning soldier wins $118,000 in USERRA case

04/20/2009

When Stephen Alasin returned from duty in Iraq, he expected to go back to his former job at Ecolab. When the company failed to rehire him, he filed a complaint … Ecolab agreed to enter into a settlement agreement that will pay Alasin $88,000 in back pay and $30,000 in damages.