Policies / Handbooks

Gifting guidelines to promote holiday harmony

12/12/2018

Holiday gift-giving at work often skids wildly into a ditch of misunderstanding and impropriety. Here are some simple ways to steer clear of gaffes.

Diversity initiatives: Make sure your good intentions are lawful

11/28/2018

While the Supreme Court has never overturned an employer’s voluntary affirmative action policy, lower courts have struck down such policies when they have strayed beyond Title VII and trammeled upon the rights of male and nonminority employees.

Track every harassment complaint, document your efforts to address the problem

11/28/2018

Employers that create a complaint system for reporting harassment and follow through on those complaints with appropriate action earn a defense to most harassment claims.

Posting FMLA notice helps cut off lawsuits

11/14/2018

Employers that post appropriate FMLA notices alerting workers to their FMLA rights—and train managers on the FMLA—generally get the benefit of the two-year deadline.

Beat bias lawsuits by showing you enforce attendance rules fairly and impartially

11/14/2018

Courts like to see employers use fair, business-related reasons for discipline. A neutral no-fault attendance policy, applied evenhandedly to all workers in the same job classification, is very likely to stand up in court.

Stung once by EEOC? Don’t let guard down

10/25/2018

If the EEOC has accused your organization of some form of discrimination, don’t think you can just write a check and move on. Now is the time to take a cold, hard look at all your employment practices and policies.

How to handle requests for religious time off

10/09/2018

It’s perfectly legitimate to require employees to request religious leave well in advance. If you have a process to ask for time off for other kinds of leave, use it for handling requests for religious leave, too.

Disability: Beware docking attendance points

10/04/2018

Policies designed to encourage regular attendance often use a point system to determine when employees who miss work will receive discipline. But that simplicity may create legal problems.

Where did all the pens go? Getting a handle on petty theft

09/14/2018

A pen here, a stack of Post-It notes there—employees bringing home items from work for personal use or to supplement their kid’s school box may not initially seem like a big deal. But think for a moment about multiple individuals repeatedly swiping things, and it’s easy to see how a costly mess can develop quickly.

What to include in your technology policy

09/13/2018

Any employer that provides telephones, computers or mobile devices should craft a clear technology policy that governs proper use and lists impermissible uses of equipment.