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HR Management

Sample Policy: Access to Personnel Files

01/01/2007
State law governs whether employers are required to provide employees access to their own personnel files. These sample policies cover many of the restrictions state laws impose.

To prevent promotion bias, seek co-workers’ input

01/01/2007

Sometimes, all the candidates for a promotion are equally qualified, making the selection difficult. It becomes a legally prickly issue when one or more of the candidates is in a protected category (race, age, gender, etc.). But you don’t have to resort to drawing straws …

Save whiteboard genius before it’s gone

01/01/2007

Great ideas drafted on whiteboards during meetings or brainstorming sessions can disappear if you don’t somehow capture them. Three low-cost ideas …

Include online classes in tuition-Reimbursement plans

01/01/2007

If your organization refuses to reimburse tuition for employees who enroll in online college courses, it might be time to reconsider …

Have wardrobe-challenged staff? Try on image consultants

01/01/2007

If your employees hear “casual” when you say “business casual,” they might benefit from an emerging new perk: the employer-supplied image consultant …

Want to change the FMLA? Here’s your chance

01/01/2007

After years of delay and missed deadlines, the U.S. Labor Department appears ready to move ahead with its promised update to FMLA regulations. But before it breaks out the red pen, the agency is seeking input from employers and other interested parties …

Does your Web site discriminate against the disabled?

01/01/2007

Until recently, companies that sold products and services over the Web didn’t feel that the ADA applied to them, meaning they weren’t required to make their sites accessible to visually impaired or disabled people. But a lawsuit against Target stores has Web retailers rethinking that assumption …

Employee’s ‘Audio Diary’ Spawns Lawsuit Against Pittsburgh TV Station

01/01/2007

CBS News sued a former administrative assistant at its KDKA-TV station in Pittsburgh for unlawfully recording phone calls, reading confidential e-mail and gathering private salary information. The company wants her to give the information back, including an “audio diary” she kept of phone calls for six months …

Preserve e-mail records; new e-discovery rules kick in

01/01/2007

When employees sue your organization, you must turn over any related documents—including old e-mail messages and computer records—during the discovery phase. But be aware that recent changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure place an even greater burden on you to come clean with what information you have …

No more hide-and-seek: new duty to retain electronic data

01/01/2007

When it comes to evidence presented to win or defend against civil lawsuits, employers no longer can play a game of hide-and-seek. The new game in town is 1-2-3 Show M’e-discovery …