Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
LITIGATION COST: Paying lawyer to review corporate ethics policy: $1,500; paying Michael severance: $5,000; avoiding corporate scandal: priceless. Does any company really want its regional manager to hit up subordinates for money? Does it matter that he did it in his condo rather than his office? The answer to both of these questions is, quite […]
By Elaine Quayle, BLR EditorJust My E-pinion We may think that small tokens of appreciation don’t matter to workers, but here’s the story of a boss’s congratulatory letter that was treasured for 50 years. My mother put only her most valuable things in her white leather jewelry box. And since her jewelry collection was meager, […]
Per yesterday’s Advisor, the exempt/nonexempt designation can be terrifically important: To employees, to you, and to the government. Today we’ll look at two ways to make it simpler and easier. One of the easiest ways to deal with exemption issues is to use a chart, says attorney Tom Makris of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP […]
Technology writer and consultant David Micah Kaufman reviews the book How to Talk So People Listen: Connecting in Today’s Workplace by Sonya Hamlin. Review notes book’s advice for thinking through the various consequences and responses of business communications makes it a classic. One of the keys to success for any organization is communication. I have […]
Suppose you have an employee who requests medical leave because she has a medical condition that, she claims, interferes with her ability to do her job. In the course of determining whether this time off qualifies as protected family and medical leave, you discover that she is continuing to work for another employer, performing similar […]
Overtime FLSA lawsuits are cropping up by the dozens—what’s behind them? And more important, what can you do to protect yourself? Which of your employees are exempt from being paid overtime? Which are not? Although the exemption rules are clearly laid out by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), in each exemption category—executive, administrative, computer, […]
By Rachel Ravary of McCarthy Tetrault and Brian P. Smeenk, formerly with McCarthy Tetrault So you’ve hired a new employee. Should you put it in writing? If so, what should it look like? What do you include? What is better left out? If you decide against an employment contract, what will the terms and conditions […]
No one likes to fire an employee, but you are a manager, get over it. Focus on doing it right, because big money lawsuits hinge on your skills. Fortunately, an upcoming webinar on wrongful termination can help. In the last Advisor, we talked about what to do if you get fired. Now let’s look at the flip […]
TV’s “The Donald” seems to have patented the line “You’re fired!” but unfortunately, most firings are not on reality television; they are in your office, and you might be next. Today’s expert offers tips on using the situation to position yourself for your next job. If you work in business long enough, at some point, […]
Richard Luke was a maintenance engineer for Collotype Labels USA, Inc., a Napa manufacturer of wine and liquor labels. Luke was suspended for three days for allegedly violating an absence-related work rule. He disagreed with the suspension and handled it by emailing Nigel Vinecombe, the group managing director for Collotype’s Australia office. Luke titled the […]