Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Words matter, and they matter a lot. Or as someone remarked (and I’m paraphrasing), “The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between a lightning bolt and a lightning bug.” Here’s a case from Houston that reminds us about this lesson.
Supervising other people is never easy, but some employees make it particularly difficult. Challenging employees can be a disruptive influence, damaging morale and making it difficult for their coworkers to function productively. It takes skillful management and patience to turn things around with difficult employees. “Skillful” is the operative word here. Most people aren’t born […]
As more and more states and cities adapt paid sick leave laws or ordinances, employers that operate in multiple states will increasingly find themselves with a section of their workforce covered by such laws. Might it be easier and simpler for such employers to adopt a global policy, extending paid leave to all of its […]
It’s been over five decades since the Holmes-Rahe stress scale recognized the impact of life events on a person’s stress level, and the correlation with physical wellness and well-being. Although more recent research has refined the original stress index, it remains uncontroversial that navigating a life event affects every pillar of a person’s well-being (physical, […]
Employee self-evaluations are an essential part of the overall review process. Self-evaluations give employees a chance to toot their own horns and give their managers insights into how their direct reports see their own strengths and weaknesses. But self-evaluations can also signal more subtle factors at play in the office. Here are a few red […]
One of the most important ways management can communicate with employees is through official employee evaluations. It’s easy to give employees kudos on a job well done after they’ve turned in a big project or casually bring up an area you’d like to see improvement in. It’s easy to feel like you have a grasp […]
A job function can be “essential” for Americans with Disabilities Act purposes even if it is rarely performed, recent case law illustrates. To qualify for ADA’s job protections, employees must be able to perform all of their job’s essential functions, with or without a reasonable accommodation. “Essential functions” are defined as the fundamental job duties […]
The Arkansas Court of Appeals recently heard a claim from an injured employee who says he was entitled to permanent partial disability (PPD) benefits after a fall. Did the employee have a case?
The pandemic has changed the business landscape as we know it. Perhaps one of the biggest lessons it has taught us is how to manage during a crisis. During these past 12 to 14 months, we have seen some organizations succeed, as they were able to pivot their business models and mitigate internal risk, while […]
One silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the widespread adoption of remote work. For decades, even as telecommunications technologies made widespread remote work more technically feasible, employers had been reluctant to grant such freedom for fear of diminished productivity, team cohesion, and oversight. As the pandemic forced them to reconsider that position, many […]