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Policies / Handbooks

An unsigned contract can still be legally binding

11/01/2003
Issue: Some courts consider agreements, signed or unsigned, to be valid, binding contracts.
Risk: A manager’s verbal promise could lock your company into legal agreements it must follow …

‘Self-defense’ is no excuse for ignoring anti-violence rules

11/01/2003
Issue: Employees may try to use “self-defense” as a reason for breaking your no-fighting rule.
Risk: That would limit your ability to punish violent workers …

Play it safe: Craft policy banning supervisor/subordinate relationships

11/01/2003
Issue: Personal relationships between employees and their bosses are ripe conditions for legal trouble.
Risk: Any form of quid pro quo (“this for that”) exchange of sexual favors for job …

How to conduct positive, valuable assessments

11/01/2003
Login Email Address Password I forgot my password To continue reading this page, become an HR Specialist Premium Plus member today! Your subscription includes: Ask the Attorney: Answers to your HR legal questions Compliance Guidance: Access to 7,000 HR news articles, updated daily, sorted by state State-by-State: Summaries of HR laws in all 50 states […]

Take these 6 steps to defuse a volatile confrontation

11/01/2003
Issue: Workplace violence claims about 2 million victims each year. Risk: The resulting injuries and trauma translate to $13.5 billion in medical costs and 1.75 million days of work lost …

Are sales reps more prone to gamble at work? You bet

11/01/2003
If you have hard-charging salespeople on staff, keep an eye out for steep drops in their productivity, requests for pay advances and questionable absences and expenses. Reason: Those are signs of …

Your ability to block e-mail from angry ex-employees just got harder

10/01/2003
Warning: Your former workers just got the OK to blitz your employees at work with e-mails, including those that criticize your employment practices, thanks to a much-anticipated ruling from the California …

Employee ‘odor policy’ doesn’t pass the smell test

10/01/2003
Courts typically say that grooming policies (such as those that deal with hair or beards) violate federal discrimination law if they disproportionately affect
a protected class and if the company …

Defuse the 5 biggest telecommuter legal threats

10/01/2003
Issue: Telecommuters pose unique legal risks, and courts are still figuring out what employers are liable for.
Risk: Complaints and lawsuits over workers’ comp, overtime, discrimination …

Prevent e-mail ‘spamming’ by angry ex-employees

10/01/2003
Issue: A new court ruling makes it more difficult to stop former employees from blitzing your workplace with e-mail messages, including those that criticize …