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HR Management

Age-based remark can spark lawsuit, even when made by older manager

04/01/2003
Respond to “age slurs” by any employees, even if the worker making the remark is older than the person who was slurred. As a recent case shows, over-40 employees can …

Don’t let weather closings bury you in pay confusion

04/01/2003
If your business closes because of bad weather, clear rules dictate who you must pay. First, exempt employees must receive their full salaries when bad weather …

You don’t have to offer FMLA leave to let worker travel with sick spouse

04/01/2003
Courts keep pushing the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) boundaries, letting employees take job-protected leave for circumstances other than physically providing care to a sick family member.

Be wary of giving employees automatic post-injury drug tests

04/01/2003
Steer clear of drafting (or continuing to follow) a company policy that says all employees involved in workplace accidents will automatically receive …

Employee handbooks: Craft with care to secure ‘at-will’ policy

04/01/2003
THE LAW. While law doesn’t directly regulate employee handbooks, they are extremely important legal tools. A handbook documents your policies, builds trust …

Set Policy, Check State Law for ‘Snow Day’ Pay

04/01/2003

Q. An ice storm recently knocked out power in 87 percent of the city. Our company had no power from Sunday until Wednesday. Some hourly employees showed up to work Monday because they live in surrounding counties and didn’t know about the outage. Are we obligated to pay those who showed up but were unable to work? —D.K., Kentucky

Safeguard your health data: HIPAA rules kick in April 14

03/01/2003
Reminder: If your company sponsors an employee benefit plan, it likely has to comply with new privacy standards under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act’s …

Guard HR records, the No. 1 source of identity theft

03/01/2003
In the past, thieves stole a person’s identity mostly by snatching a wallet, intercepting mail or digging through garbage to find identifying data. Not anymore. Now, …

No need to reverify expired driver’s license

03/01/2003

Q. I was interested in your recent article discussing reverifying employees’ I-9 documents when they expire. Does this mean that if a worker shows a driver’s license as verification, we need to ask for the worker’s new number and recheck the information when the license expires? —H.F., Florida

Lower-level bias can illegally taint firing decision

03/01/2003
When it comes to discrimination affecting your company’s hiring and firing decisions, what you don’t know can hurt you. That’s why it’s important to reiterate …