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HR Management

Use ‘Mini-Med’ Benefits to Cut Costs, Help Retain Staff

02/01/2006

Soaring health costs are forcing many small firms to shift more cost burden to employees or drop coverage. But be aware that many companies are taking a third option: offering a limited medical health insurance plan (or "mini med") that provides bare-bones health coverage …

Draft questions to predict young applicants’ true potential

01/01/2006

Hiring younger workers for entry-level and managerial-trainee jobs poses unique challenges. Because those applicants have little or no experience under their belts, interviewing requires special insights. To predict job success, focus on applicants’ maturity level by asking the right questions and looking for certain nonverbal cues …

8 steps to being an effective witness in court, depositions

01/01/2006
Many HR professionals (and most supervisors) aren’t prepared when called to serve as witnesses. One simple mistake can hurt your organization’s chances and damage your professional image. Use these eight tips to create practice sessions for yourself and other employees who serve as witnesses.

Evacuation planning: Pay attention to ADA responsibilities

01/01/2006

While the ADA was created to stop employment discrimination, the law also requires you to provide equal access (and possibly accommodations) for disabled employees in the area of emergency evacuations from your workplace …

Are bloggers hurting your recruiting potential?

01/01/2006

Find out what people (possibly your ex-employees) are saying about your organization on their personal blogs, some of which have heavy readership. To do this, plug your organization’s name into a blog search engine …

Remind young workers about downloading dangers

01/01/2006

More than half (52 percent) of 1,000 college students surveyed said they believe it’s OK, even in the workplace, to download or swap illegal software or files, according to a Business Software Alliance report …

Employees’ right to view personnel file is a state issue

01/01/2006

Q. I support the concept of permitting employees to view their personnel files upon request, but I want to know if any law or regulation requires us to provide access. If so, where can I find out about this law/regulation? I’ve been unable to find the rule, and I’m beginning to suspect that we’ve passed this “law” around so long in HR that we believe it exists. –R.C., Alabama

Show your defense cards early in the lawsuit game

01/01/2006

By having a tough anti-discrimination policy and a clear complaint procedure, you establish what lawyers call an "affirmative defense," meaning you have a weapon to defend yourself in court. But you must put forth those affirmative defenses very early in a lawsuit …

You need luck to uncover fraud, but a bit of skill helps, too

01/01/2006

While most workplace financial fraud is discovered by chance, it still pays to institute controls that can identify such scams. A new PricewaterhouseCoopers study of 3,600 employers found that 45 percent of respondents had detected incidents of fraud …

When can nonsexual bullying equal sexual harassment?

01/01/2006

f you think sexual harassment involves only those headline-grabbing actions like groping behind closed doors or demands for sex, you’re wrong. The law also says that if your organization tolerates employees who single out co-workers of one gender for abusive (nonsexual) treatment, you could be liable for a sexual harassment lawsuit based on a hostile environment …