Month: July 2013

What laws restrict drug testing policies in California?

“Drug testing of private sector employees and applicants in California implicates the right of privacy set forth in Article 1, Section 1 of the California Constitution.” Marc Jacuzzi told us in a recent CER webinar. “That is where individual employee rights lie for private employers.” But what about safety concerns? Do they trump privacy concerns?

Senate ready to take up NLRB nominations

by Tammy Binford The full Senate is expected to vote on all five nominations to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) within the next few days, a move that could give the NLRB its full membership confirmed by the Senate for the first time in more than a decade. The Senate Committee on Health, Education, […]

HR Mythbuster Takes on 4 More

Beachboard made his remarks at SHRM’s Annual Conference and Exhibition, held recently in Chicago. He is a shareholder in the Los Angeles and Torrance, California, offices of law firm Ogletree Deakins. [Go here for urban legends 1 to 9.] Urban Legend #10 They are the staffing firm’s employee, so we don’t have to worry about […]

Train Employees to Share Innovations in the Community

Well-known for training its own employees on lean principles, Toyota partnered with the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation (EVSC) in Indiana to teach the school district how to make its process of collecting and distributing 14,000 netbooks to students in grades 6 through 12 more efficient. Since October 2012, members from the Toyota Production System Support […]

Workin’ it in the library

It’s summertime, and the reading is easy. (For many, that is. There are some who like to take advantage of long beach days with a tome they otherwise wouldn’t have time to read; to them, we say more power to you!) As a bookworm, I’m always looking for a good read to take with me, […]

Personnel Record Maintenance: When Can You Delete Employee Records?

What policies do you have in place regarding personnel record maintenance? When can you get rid of personnel records? General Guidance for Personnel Record Maintenance “Files should be obviously kept in a central location and someone, typically the HR department, should be the designated custodian. Only the custodian should put things into the file or […]

The 5 R’s of Harassment Avoidance

Yesterday’s Advisor featured attorney Jonathan Segal’s suggestions for anti-harassment training; today, his 5 R’s for managers, plus an introduction to the popular 350-prewritten-policy program, SmartPolicies. Segal, who is one of SHRM’s most popular speakers, is a partner in the Philadelphia office of law firm Duane Morris LLP. His remarks came at the SHRM Annual Conference […]

6 Challenges in Establishing a Performance Management Process

Implementing an effective and objective performance management process helps employers communicate expectations and results to employees. This in turn drives higher performance levels from them. Here are some challenges to look out for when implementing (or improving) a performance management process. 6 Challenges in Establishing a Performance Management Process “Employers are refocusing on the importance […]

Are Employee Background Checks Regulated by FCRA?

Employers performing employee background checks are actually subject to Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) regulations. FCRA applies to all consumer reports and investigative consumer reports, whether they’re conducted in house or by a third-party such as a consumer reporting agency (CRA). FCRA “is a federal law, and it imposes minimum standards on employers that they […]

When Can a Workers’ Comp Claimant be Disciplined?

“You will find that pretty much every workers’ comp law in the country does have anti-retaliation provisions. And so, just the act of filing a workers’ comp claim gives somebody protected status that’s somewhat analogous to somebody filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or filing a complaint under one of the wage/hour […]