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Rest Breaks: How Do We Handle Complaints About Smokers’ Breaks?

We’re a small company and we’ve been fairly lenient with rest breaks. We assumed that employees would take a 10-minute rest break in the morning and again in the afternoon, but we haven’t policed exactly how long people take their breaks. We’ve also just let smokers step outside for cigarette breaks without tracking how often […]

achieve

How to Achieve Alignment Between Training and Company Objectives

In “Aligning Employee Training With Company Objectives,” we discussed the importance of aligning employee training with broader business goals and corporate strategy. Training with a focus on company strategy and goals ensures staff are best prepared to carry out that strategy on a tactical, day-to-day level and ensures they are focused on those goals.

Workplace investigations 101: What to do when employee makes an allegation

Workplace investigations typically start with an allegation. Perhaps an employee makes a complaint about another employee or manager. Or perhaps he or she advises of an employee harassing another employee. Regardless of the specifics of the allegation at hand, there are some steps that employers should always take at the start of the process. Having […]

GPS Tracking of Employees –Legal or Not?

With GPS technology, we can know where—exactly where—our employees are, 24/7. Is it an invasion of privacy to ask questions based on that information? Today’s expert sorts out the issues and offers practical advice. Employer surveillance of employee activities using global positioning system (GPS) or similar technology should not violate employee privacy if it’s used […]

trainer

What Makes a Good Trainer?

Companies are increasingly appreciating the importance of training and development, and trainers obviously play a key role in these training and development efforts. Training can come from a dedicated training department, which many companies utilize.

performing

What to Do When Employees Are Underperforming?

It’s time to pull your head out of the sand—you need to deal with poor performers! Sometimes it is uncomfortable to deal with things you would rather avoid, but there is no advantage to delaying the inevitable.

Q&A on How HR Can Handle FMLA Leave and Suspected Abuse

Must an employer grant FMLA leave to an employee to care for a child’s serious health condition after the child is an adult and no longer lives with the employee? Can an employee take intermittent FMLA leave for baby bonding? What should an employer do who suspects FMLA leave abuse? These questions and more were […]

domestic violence

What is Paid ‘Safe Time’?

Paid “safe time” refers to paid time off used specifically to deal with issues related to domestic abuse. While many employers offer some form of paid time off, not all employers have specific PTO days allotted to deal with domestic abuse. This can be a critical distinction, as it allows victims in these situations to […]

How Leadership’s Understanding of “Psychological Safety” is More Important than Ever

Whether you’ve been leading a remote workforce for decades, recently ventured into this space, are dabbling with hybrid models or fully returning your staff to in-house status, one thing is certain: The concept of “workplace” has changed forever. The pandemic effectively recast it. And the hard, sacred work of nurturing company culture has gotten even […]

What is Radical Empathy?

The idea that employers should empathize with their workers is relatively new. Just ask Bob Cratchit how empathetic his employer, Mr. Scrooge, was in Victorian-era England. Of course, by the end of the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Tale, and thanks to some supernatural intervention, Scrooge came around and developed genuine sympathy for the plight […]