Policies
Do You Need An Employee Handbook?
As a small business owner, it can sometimes feel impossible to do it all. It’s difficult enough to ensure that employees are performing quality work, let alone have to be concerned about issues with problems including attendance, the dress, and how each employee should work together. One of the ways to help enforce these rules…
Read MoreIntroducing ’Summer Cleaning’: A New Reason to Update Your Employee Handbook
Everyone is familiar with the concept of spring cleaning; maybe you even organized a few closets or cleaned behind your refrigerator last season. Those chores are good for your home, but did your spring cleaning efforts benefit your organization? Probably not. That’s why we’d like to introduce the concept of “summer cleaning.” Its purpose? To remind…
Read MoreTen Ways Employers Get Themselves Sued (Part One)
Take care of yourself! In medicine, sometimes the practices that get people in trouble are pretty simple. Too many nachos, and not enough leafy greens. You’d rather binge-watch Seasons 1-3 of Stranger Things than go for a walk. You hate needles, so you haven’t been to the doctor in 20 years. The same principle often applies…
Read MoreTaking Advantage of Your Summer Break – Revisit, Refresh, and Review
Handbooks. The mere mention of the company handbook typically sends HR professionals into a furious search for any project other than the company handbook. Sorry, I can’t work on the company handbook, I have to watch the paint dry in my office. For this reason, beyond passing them off during perfunctory onboarding, handbooks typically get…
Read MoreHow to Establish a Performance Improvement Plan
A performance improvement plan (PIP), also known as a performance action plan, is a tool to give an employee with performance deficiencies the opportunity to succeed. It may be used to address failures to meet specific job goals or to ameliorate behavior-related concerns. Outcomes may vary, including improvement in overall performance; the recognition of a…
Read MoreFor Employer, Paid Administrative Leave Is Not Always A Safe Harbor
A recent ruling from the U.S. District Court may surprise employers who order paid administrative leave for employees being investigated. The lesson of the case is that, depending on circumstances, paid administrative leave might constitute a materially adverse employment action sufficient to prove an unlawful retaliation claim against the employer. Judge Rya W. Zobel issued…
Read MoreDOL Issues Opinion Letter On What Constitutes Work Time When Employees Travel
On April 12, 2018, the US Department of Labor’s Wage & Hour Division (WHD), issued an opinion letter, FLSA2018-18, responding to an employer’s request for guidance concerning its obligation to compensate employee travel-time under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The WHD begins the opinion letter by re-affirming several basic principles: Compensable time generally does not…
Read MoreInclement Weather Policy Should Factor In Safety, Pay
Employers look for ways for nonexempt and exempt employees to work remotely An inclement weather policy has two dimensions: The first and most important is employee safety; the second is pay. Employers should give serious thought to allowing employees to stay home on days when there is a significantly elevated risk of a traffic accident,…
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