Archives
More Wage And Hour Woes For Wal-Mart
Short Takes: Ergonomics
Do we have to have an ergonomics program?
Short Takes: New Hires Reporting
What’s the rule on reporting new hires?
Health and Wellness: We Have a “Presenteeism” Problem; Can We Send Sick Employees Home?
We sometimes have employees who appear to be sick. We say, hey, maybe you should go home for the rest of the day. They say, oh, no, I’m good, and they go back to work. We suspect they are hanging on because they don’t want to use their sick leave. But I don’t want them […]
You’re the Expert: What can I do to encourage employees to work safely?
Our accident rate is rising along with our workers’ comp costs, and management wants me to reverse the trend. What can I do to encourage employees to work safely?
Disabilities: How Should We Deal With an Employee We Think Is Mentally Ill?
We have an employee with what I think are mental health problems. The person has angry outbursts—not violent exactly, but pretty wild when they happen. My question is, how do we approach this person? I don’t think I should be saying, “Hey, I think you have manic depression,” but I don’t know what approach is […]
Unions: How Far Can We Go in Discouraging a Union Drive?
We’ve gotten word that a union is going to try to organize our manufacturing arm’s workers. I’m not sure what to tell the managers and supervisors about how far they can go to encourage their workers to reject the union. Can you give some general guidelines? — Thomas T., HR Manager in Berkeley
Big Help for the Small HR Department
HR departments as small as one face big challenges. Here’s a program especially designed to help them. The recent brouhaha in Washington over whether a raise in the minimum wage should include special tax breaks for small business brought up again, in our minds, the issue of the smaller HR department. In countless businesses, usually […]
Drugs & Alcohol: Do I Have to Interview an Applicant Who Takes Medical Marijuana?
One of our current employees has referred a friend for employment under our employee referral program, which rewards employees who refer applicants if we end up hiring them. The employee mentioned that the friend uses marijuana for medical purposes. I don’t really want to consider this person because we are a drug-free workplace, but I’m […]