Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Yesterday’s Advisor covered what employers can’t do when fighting off unions; today, eight steps you can take, plus an introduction to an extraordinary program prepared especially for smaller—or even one-person—HR departments. Once again, we turn to BLR’s managing editor of HR.BLR.com, attorney Patricia Trainor, SPHR for advice. In addition to communicating with employees about unions, […]
If an employee comes to work sick (as in the flu, fever, vomiting, etc.), do we have the right to send that employee home and make them use their Paid Time Off (PTO)? Or are we obligated to paying a sick employee if we decide to send them home?
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is seemingly straightforward on the matter of pay: employers must pay employees for all hours worked. But who is an employee? And can employers accept free work?
Managing leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) has its challenges. Employers need to ensure that all HR staff and all managers who deal with employee leave requests are well-versed in the finer details of FMLA-related leave. They should understand who is eligible for leave, how much they’re eligible for, how you track […]
Question: We have an employee who we are fairly certain is falsifying her doctor’s notes. Are we legally allowed to contact the doctor’s office to verify the notes are indeed legitimate?
What happens if a manager forgets to inform HR that an employee has absences that could be FMLA-qualifying? Can those absences still be counted against the employee's 12-week FMLA allotment for the year? What about when an employee has an emergency and must take leave immediately but was unable to request it? Can that count […]
In the context of employee-employer relations, the term “grievance” usually relates to an employee’s allegation of a violation of workplace policy or contract terms.
Employee training is an essential function for many businesses and most large businesses have a formal training function in place. Those that don’t would be well advised to consider one; in fact, even smaller organizations can benefit. Where do you start?
According to most state laws, all employees must be reimbursed for reasonably incurred business expenses. This includes employee uniforms in some cases, which is an area some employers like to push as an employee’s responsibility. Read on for more information on when it is the responsibility of the employer to either provide the uniform or […]
As we all know, the FLSA requires us to pay overtime pay when it is due, and the base pay rate must include all payments for that time period in question—including incentive pay and bonuses paid during that time. But is that always the case? Actually, the answer is no. It’s true that most incentive […]