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Training

Protecting trade secrets: Loose lips sink your legal defense

08/01/2004
THE LAW. Today’s definition of trade secrets encompasses any information, technical or nontechnical, that your organization has reasonably protected and is valuable enough to give you an actual or potential …

To cut turnover, give applicants a realistic view of job

08/01/2004
Issue: How much should you, or the hiring manager, “sell” a position versus giving the full picture, warts and all? Risk: Providing an overly rosy scenario will create …

Ease pay complaints & turnover by training managers

08/01/2004

More often than not, employees believe that their pay levels are pulled out of a hat. And when employees do raise questions about their compensation, they typically go first to their front-line supervisor: the person with the greatest impact on their morale but the least-trained person to offer a good answer …

Stereotype about motherhood, by itself, can count as bias

07/01/2004
Remind managers never to base employment decisions on how they believe employees would act based on their gender, race, religion or disability. Make sure managers focus solely on the performance itself, …

Pay attention to rising complaints of ‘same-race’ bias

07/01/2004
Issue: Courts are seeing a spike in discrimination claims involving people of the same race.
Risk: Some supervisors wrongly ignore same-race complaints, believing, for example, that “blacks can’t discriminate against …

Surprise! Off-duty horseplay can qualify as ‘work time’

07/01/2004
Issue: Your broad liability for workers’ comp injuries. Risk: If supervisors exert control over employees outside the workplace, your organization could be liable for resulting injuries. Action: Alert supervisors …

What’s the cost of a chair? A lot less than a lawsuit

07/01/2004
Issue: Minor squabbles between employees and supervisors escalating into illegal “discipline.” Risk: If left unchecked, they can escalate, resulting in discrimination or retaliation claims. Action: Use the following case …

Here’s more reason to police supervisors’ compliance

06/01/2004
Issue: How much oversight should your organization exert on supervisors who handle potentially violent situations? Risk: Letting one misguided supervisor call the shots …

Don’t wait for a complaint to punish misbehaving staff

06/01/2004
Issue: Some supervisors believe in a “No complaints, no problem” motto. Risk: By ignoring blatant harassment or discrimination, supervisors open the organization to “negligent supervision” lawsuits. Action: Educate supervisors …

Requiring training won’t constitute retaliation, court says

05/01/2004
Don’t worry about assigning an employee to a job in which she’ll need to upgrade her skills, even if that employee previously filed a lawsuit against your organization. Reason: As long …