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Policies / Handbooks

Stop relying on Social Security number as employee ID

09/01/2002
Identity theft is among the nation’s fastest-growing crimes, and your personnel files and other HR data can be gold mines for would-be thieves. Getting a Social Security number (SSN), in particular, …

Toughen violence policy to avoid liability

08/01/2002
An off-duty employee confronted a co-worker at his desk and accused him of having an affair with his girlfriend. Two supervisors, suspecting the confrontation might turn violent, escorted both employees to …

Lax hiring process will cost you

08/01/2002
For nearly two years, Joyce Dennis worked in progressively more responsible jobs at a South Carolina hospital. But when she interviewed for a promotion to ER registration supervisor, the hiring manager …

Tear down accommodation hurdles; don’t make worker formally apply

08/01/2002
When Howard Shapiro, a 15-year city employee, became disabled in a work accident, he couldn’t continue his paramedic job. So he made repeated requests for accommodations and identified several vacant positions …

Draw line on harassing behavior, even against top company execs

08/01/2002
Over four months, a female co-worker slipped nearly a dozen sexually explicit pamphlets into the office mailbox of a company vice president, including one titled “Great Sex for Men over 50” …

Workers’ comp can cover on-the-job fights

08/01/2002
Robert LeeGrand, an African-American brick mason’s assistant, got mad when a co-worker criticized his work and made a racist remark. When LeeGrand confronted him, the co-worker threw bricks, which caused LeeGrand …

Employees have zero privacy claim on e-mail

08/01/2002
Two insurance workers sued, claiming privacy rights, after they were fired for forwarding sexually explicit e-mails. The company had a clear policy that banned defamatory, abusive, obscene or threatening messages. The …

Check the fine print on legal-liability insurance

08/01/2002
When a former executive sued his company for defamation, the company turned to its umbrella liability insurance policy to cover the defense cost. But the insurer refused and a federal appeals …

More companies opt for mandatory vacation, but is it legal?

08/01/2002
Continuing a cost-cutting step they took last year, some companies, especially tech firms, are again asking employees to take mandatory vacations. The forced time off, paid or not, is catching …

To beat the union heat, avoid 7 deadly management sins

08/01/2002
Why do some employers manage to operate their company in a union-free environment, while others in the same industry and city have a unionized work force? The reasons fit into …