• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

HR Management

Comply with the new ethics-training rules in 7 easy steps

03/01/2005
Issue: New federal guidelines require all organizations to establish an ethics-training program.
Benefit: By taking the lead on this issue, you’ll cut the organization’s liability risk and impress the brass. …

Don’t get snagged in OSHA’s beefed-up inspection machine

03/01/2005
Issue: OSHA “dramatically” increased the number of its most serious kind of violations that it handed out in 2004.
Risk: Negative inspection results can trigger big fines and sales-killing publicity. …

You can exclude vacation pay from ‘Regular rate’

03/01/2005

Q. When we are figuring employees’ base pay for overtime calculations, can we exclude their vacation pay? —R.J.D., South Dakota

The new legal risk of overworking bilingual employees

03/01/2005
Issue: Overburdening employees because of their language abilities.
Risk: Relying too heavily on bilingual employees could spark a national-origin bias lawsuit.
Action: Remind supervisors to be on guard against …

Do your managers know an FMLA request when they see one?

03/01/2005
When employees request leave, especially for unforeseen circumstances, they don’t need to assert their FMLA rights explicitly by saying, “I need FMLA leave.” In fact, they don’t need to mention FMLA …

Age-bias law covers apprenticeships.

03/01/2005
Several applicants over age 40 complained to the EEOC about age bias after they were turned down for admission to a maritime training apprenticeship program. The EEOC sued the program and …

More reason to crack down on disability-related jokes and teasing

03/01/2005
When training supervisors, stress that they must work harder to prevent workplace intolerance toward employees with physical or mental impairments.
Reason: More courts are allowing employees to use
the …

Improve job reviews: Avoid these 4 deadly sins

03/01/2005
Managers may dread performance re-views, but employees are more receptive to them than you think. In fact, 77 percent of employees polled by staffing firm OfficeTeam said they consider performance reviews …

Alert managers: No ‘magic words’ needed to request FMLA

03/01/2005
Issue: Some supervisors think about FMLA only if an employee explicitly says “I need FMLA leave.”
Risk: In reality, employees don’t need to use the term “FMLA.” Failing to recognize …

Get the answers you need from ‘buck-passers’

03/01/2005
Issue: You often need people to act or decide quickly, even if they don’t report to you.
Risk: When people avoid making decisions, it can slow you down and reflect …