Tag: procedures

Will Your Investigation Hold Up? Expert Offers Tips

Take care with your investigations, says investigator and trainer DeDe Church, or they may do more harm than good. Here are some things you need to know about doing your investigations, she says. Church (DeDe Church & Associates, LLC, www.dedechurch.com) offered her advice at the Employers Counsel Network Convention held recently in Austin, Texas. The […]

Understanding an Employee’s Right to Discuss Labor Practices

Under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), employees have the right to work together to ensure good working conditions. This statement is true regardless of whether there is an employee union in the workplace. This right includes the right to engage in what is called “concerted activity.” In short, concerted activity is any activity undertaken […]

Employee Handbooks: The Importance of Signed Acknowledgements

Requiring employees to sign an acknowledgement stating that they’ve received, read, and understood the employee handbook may seem arduous, especially if it’s done every time there is an update to the handbook. But this task is more than a mere formality—it serves an important purpose for employers: it is documentation and evidence that the employees […]

Preventing Employee Data Leaks Requires Proper Safeguards

Reducing the risk of data breaches requires assessing your company’s vulnerabilities, then addressing them with policies, procedures, training and agreements. The media tend to focus on external hackers, but “the real culprits for most our clients are internal,” according to employment law attorney Robert Fitzpatrick. Employee data breaches can be classified into the deliberate and […]

Retaliation Suits: Still #1 on the Stupid Suits Hit Parade

Retaliation claims are now number one of all types of charges against employers, and they remain the stupidest type of charge. Stupid because most retaliation charges can be avoided if managers and supervisors just think before they act. Laws prohibiting retaliation as a form of workplace discrimination have expanded rapidly in the past few years, […]

The Trouble with ‘Twibel’: A New Social Media Headache for Employers

You may feel like a twit when it comes to your understanding of Twitter, but it is time to add the word “Twibel” to your company’s vocabulary — and more importantly, to your overall social media strategy, says Porter Wright employment law attorney Sara Jodka. Libel occurs when someone prints a false and malicious statement […]

Communicating with Employees—Don’t Shove It onto the Back Burner

Ask employees what they like least about their jobs, and they typically cite a problem with communication. In fact, in many national employee attitude surveys, participating organizations across the board were rated lowest on questions related to communication, while at the same time employees who took the survey said communication was very important to them.

Gaming the System—PA Sin Number Seven

Yesterday’s Advisor featured the first 6 of our 10 sins of performance appraisers; today, we present the rest of the sins.    [Go here for sins 1 to 6.] Sin #7. Gaming the system “John’s work is just OK, to be sure, but I need to give him a big raise to keep him, so […]