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HR Management

How to hold orientation for non-English speaking staff

12/01/2006

A reader of our weekly e-mail newsletter recently posed this question to the other readers: “What’s the best way to include Spanish-speaking employees in orientation sessions with a predominantly English-speaking group?” …

New Oxford tavern owner accused of sexual harassment

12/01/2006

The EEOC last month filed a lawsuit against the owner of the Crazy Horse Steak House & Saloon in New Oxford for sexually harassing female employees …

Make sure your arbitration agreement is valid in Texas

12/01/2006

Arbitration agreements, in which employees give up their rights to go to court and instead submit their cases to arbitration, can be a great way to avoid unpredictable juries, negative publicity and the expense of a full-blown lawsuit. But if the agreement isn’t worded just right, you may end up with more expense and lost time rather than less …

Workplace attire continues to become more casual

12/01/2006

Nearly half of all U.S. employees wear jeans to work or whatever else is comfortable, according to a new “Dress in the Workplace” poll of 2,198 workers by Yahoo! Hot Jobs and Banana Republic …

Should we require harassment claims be in writing?

12/01/2006

Q. Our new plant manager wants me to revise our sexual harassment policy to require that complaints be in writing. He says this will formalize the procedure and help ensure that only valid complaints are filed. I don’t think this is a good idea. Is it?

Docking employee’s pay for missing laptop

12/01/2006

Q. An employee who recently quit hasn’t returned a company-owned laptop computer worth over $1,000. Can we withhold the value of the computer from the employee’s last paycheck?

Healthy employees pay lower premiums

12/01/2006

When Dan Dauphinee learned that a quarter of health care costs are due to unhealthy and unsafe behaviors, the operations manager made this pitch to the 140 employees of Northeastern Log Homes: Change your behavior, and we’ll cut your insurance premiums by 25 percent …

The new pension reform law: What it means to you

12/01/2006

In August, President Bush signed the Pension Protection Act of 2006, which includes many benefits-related amendments to the Internal Revenue Code and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) …

How to talk to young employees about retirement planning

12/01/2006

Your 20-something employees are more worried about repaying student loans and moving into their first homes than saving for retirement. So convincing them to contribute to a 401(k) is often a tough sell. The solution: Make your pitch relevant to their lifestyles …

Disability harassment costs Wall Street firm half million

12/01/2006

Wall Street securities firm LaBranche & Co. agreed to pay former trading assistant Peter Servidio $500,000 to settle his disability harassment lawsuit …