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Policies / Handbooks

Can we prohibit texting at work based on the Supreme Court’s recent Quon decision?

12/09/2010
Q. What lessons should employers take from the Supreme Court’s decision in City of Ontario v. Quon? That’s the case about the texting police officer. We want to ban personal texting at work.

Can arbitration agreements include clause waiving employees’ statutory claims?

12/09/2010
Q. I am wondering if we can contract with employees to resolve employment-related disputes, including statutory claims, with binding arbitration. Are there any problems with this?

Porn at work is misconduct, even without a rule against it

12/09/2010

Give some employees an inch and they’ll take a mile. They stubbornly insist on pushing the rules and argue that if the handbook doesn’t say something is prohibited, then it must be OK. Fortunately, courts don’t often agree.

Leave disciplinary wiggle room in handbook

12/09/2010

Here’s a tip if you are revising your employee handbook: When it comes to discipline, make sure you give yourself some flexibility to deal with unusual circumstances. For example, if you want to use progressive discipline, be sure to account for the rare situations that may warrant immediate suspension or discharge.

GINA’s effect on wellness programs

12/09/2010
To help you better understand your obligations under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA), we’ve assembled these resources:

How Leandra’s Law could affect your company-vehicle policy

12/02/2010
Leandra’s Law (the Child Passenger Protection Act) requires anyone convicted of driving while intoxicated in New York to install and maintain an ignition interlock device on any vehicle he or she owns or operates. That’s a condition of the person’s probation or conditional discharge. Leandra’s Law has several important provisions that apply to employers of people who have been convicted of DWI.

Arbitration agreements are contracts! Keep them out of employee handbooks

12/01/2010
The Supreme Court of Texas has just ruled that arbitration agreements are legally valid and enforceable as long as they are stand-alone contracts—and not part of an overall employment manual.

Unionized? You may be able to use progressive discipline to address some forms of harassment

12/01/2010

If your organization is unionized and operates under a collective bargaining agreement that calls for progressive discipline, think twice before automatically firing an employee you believe has sexually harassed other employees. Unless your contract specifies discharge for a first harassment offense, you may have to follow your progressive discipline program.

Bulletproof anti-harassment policy by ensuring employees know how to lodge their complaints

11/29/2010

It’s been over a decade since the U.S. Supreme Court laid down the law on what employers need to do to prevent and cure sexual harassment. That’s long enough for complacency to have set in. By now, some employers may have started taking sexual harassment less seriously than they did when the court first ruled. That’s a potentially costly mistake.

Investigations: You can (and should) demand silence from all participants

11/26/2010
Water-cooler talk about alleged discrimination or harassment can poison a workplace. That’s why your company policy should require all participants in investigations (including witnesses) to keep quiet about the issue. That way, rumors and exaggerated claims won’t influence other employees who haven’t yet told investigators their side of the story.