Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
A Northern California woman has won a jaw-dropping $6.5 million by convincing a jury that she was passed over for promotion by a supervisor who favored employees belonging to the same religious group as the supervisor. We’ll explain the case and provide pointers for avoiding similar “reverse bias” problems.
by Sarah McAdams When it comes to corporate social responsibility (CSR), HR departments have a particularly crucial role to play. “When you strive to be a more responsible company, you are relying on people to make sure you stay true to your values, and HR’s expertise is people,” explains Marcy Scott Lynn, CSR manager at […]
All our employees sign an at-will acknowledgment when they are hired. Doesn’t that mean I can fire an employee whenever I want, for any reason or no reason? I’m being told that I have to have documentation and justification. If they’re at-will employees, why can’t I just fire them? —Carl B., San Jose
We’ve had a string of sad situations recently that have really tested our bereavement leave policy. We currently offer three days off for the death of an employee’s immediate family member. One situation involved the death of a family member on the East Coast, for which our employee wanted five days of bereavement leave. Another […]
We have a situation. One of our senior managers is pushing his religion. He prays at meetings and holds prayer groups and Bible studies. He insists they are “voluntary,” but his employees feel that if they don’t attend, they won’t get a shot at raises and promotions. What should I do about a manager who […]
Our PTO program wraps together all time off—sick leave, vacation, and personal time. Now we’ve had a suggestion that we allow “gifting” of PTO time; that is, permit workers with excess time to give it to a worker who, say, ran out of time and is dealing with an issue, such as his or her […]
The following are five important topics to help you do strategic planning to improve your company’s HR functions and put those plans into action. Audit your policies and practices with the Employment Practices Self-Audit Workbook Planning to succeed The essence of strategic planning for any organization is (1) the identification of desired goals and objectives […]
Not unlike an annual employee performance evaluation, an HR or employment law audit provides an objective means to measure the effectiveness of HR functions with respect to productivity, efficiency, and morale, among others. As a risk-management tool, an audit can identify obsolete or ineffective practices and flag compliance issues. In fact, employment practices liability insurance […]