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Do Your Employees Go to Dr. Summeroff?

At a recent presentation by two colleagues on the ADA, the subject was doctors’ notes in support of leave as a reasonable accommodation. One of the audience members said, “Well, you know what doctor the employee is going to visit, don’t you? Dr. Summeroff.” The line got a huge laugh from the audience, but it […]

Employee Fired for Excessive Absences After Making Need for FMLA Leave Known

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) prohibits an employer from interfering with an employee’s right to take medical leave. When pursuing such a claim, an employee need not allege the employer intended to deny the benefit, just that it was withheld. The employer’s motives are irrelevant when determining whether interference occurred. Of course, the […]

Gay Witch Hunt

LITIGATION VALUE: $0.00 to $450,000+ (depending on which state you are in) Overall, I’d say that Oscar has a good (read “expensive”) claim for sexual orientation discrimination and retaliation. Not only does Michael admittedly refer to employees as “faggy” when he means “lame,” but he specifically refers to Oscar, a gay employee, as “faggy.” Then, […]

What to Include in Your Employee Engagement Checklist

Kevin Sheridan recently spoke as the Day 1 opening keynote for the 2018 HR Daily Advisor Annual Conference. In the keynote session, Sheridan focused on how to attract talented employees to the workplace, empower them, and sustain an environment in which they are more likely to stay.  Here, Sheridan provides a brief recap of the […]

Have ‘Stranger’ Leaves Been Approved? FMLA Lessons from Netflix

While binge-watching everyone’s nostalgic guilty pleasure, Netflix’s Stranger Things, I could not help but empathize with single mother Joyce Byers (played by actress Winona Ryder). Her prepubescent son, Will (Noah Schnapp), was abducted by a monster (the Demogorgon) and sent to a parallel universe (the Upside Down) populated by dog-like monsters. During Will’s disappearance, apparent […]

6 Tips to Improve Workplace Communication

To better communicate with bosses, colleagues and customers, match your message to your audience, and don’t forget the nonverbal skills, says a new DVD plus book program. A recent Daily Advisor listed the ability to communicate effectively as one of the secrets to success in any organization. We discussed it in terms of reaching senior […]

Wait … I Have to Pay Unauthorized Overtime?

Lott, who counsels employers on policy building and lawsuit avoidance from www.Hunterlott.com, offered his suggestions at SHRM’s Annual Conference and Exposition, held recently in Atlanta Georgia. Personal Relationships Policy Lott is fascinated by personal relationship policies. They typically read about like this, says Lott: “Personal relationships in the workplace are strongly discouraged. A company employee […]

Personal phones causing a problem at work? Damage control is possible

Smartphones. Certainly, they can be tremendous tools, but they also can be major distractions in the workplace. A recent survey from CareerBuilder placed cellphones at the top of a list of productivity killers at work, more of a problem than office gossip, social media, smoke breaks, and other diversions.  Phones are now so much more […]

metrics

Which Performance Metrics Should You Share with Employees?

Many organizations and operations departments keep detailed metrics on the performance of different teams and individuals. These could include turnaround time on a custom order, average throughput for a common manufactured product, time spent resolving a customer complaint or concern, and many others. These metrics are useful to company management in identifying areas that need improvement, […]

Workers’ Comp Basics

Workers’ compensation laws have come about as a way to establish a means of compensation for injured employees while simultaneously reducing the amount of litigation against employers when employees are injured on the job. The workers’ compensation laws are administered on the state level, and the federal government has its own separate program. Workers’ compensation […]