Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
HR professionals may not go looking for trouble, but that doesn’t mean trouble doesn’t go looking for HR. Complaining employees regularly find their way to HR and often demand a solution to a problem they either don’t want to handle themselves or should leave to management. One such problem is a coworker with an offensive […]
by Mark I. Schickman Too often, the workplace is viewed as a zero-sum game ― a win for an employee or loss for the boss, every savings for the company obtained from an employee concession. The political parties are playing it the same way; either employers pay more or workers get less ― nobody suggests […]
A recent decision by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals highlights the importance of tracking employees’ hours. That court reversed a district court’s judgment against a New York high school English teacher who claims he was denied tenure in retaliation for taking seven days of leave following gallbladder surgery — FMLA leave for which […]
by Rosalind H. Cooper Employers and others are generally protected by actions against them that occur outside of limitation periods. That applies to charges under Canadian occupational health and safety legislation, too. But when do those limitation periods begin to run? A recent decision of the Ontario Court of Justice in R. v. Corporation (City […]
by Julie A. Arbore One of the most effective ways an employer can shield itself from liability when faced with an allegation of discrimination is to be able to support the legitimacy of the challenged employment decision with documentation. While this advice may sound simple and obvious, all too often an employee’s personnel file fails […]
by Ralph N. Nero and Keri L. Bennett Many of our recent articles have focused on decisions involving employees’ breaches or threatened breaches of restrictive covenants. Including restrictive covenants, such as nonsolicitation and noncompetition covenants, into employment contracts is important for employers to protect their business interests. In order to be enforceable, however, such covenants […]
In honor of the Olympics, I have decided to hand out some well deserved medals to our Dunder Mifflin friends for keeping us laughing all these seasons. I’ll only be handing out gold medals, because that’s the only color on my yogurt lids and I have run out of paperclips for the chains. Without further […]
Seen any viral videos lately? Maybe a more pertinent question is: Fired anyone over a viral video lately? Videos and other social media posts run the gamut from cute kittens to dancing wedding parties. Sometimes, though, they delve into more serious subjects and become statements on political and social issues — issues that can embarrass […]
by Mark I. Schickman There have been many lawsuits limiting the introduction of religion into the workforce. Employees who insist on a God-given right to bash gays at the workplace are subject to termination ― despite their right to express their religious beliefs. An employee whose religion opposes taking orders from women will lose his […]
by Lorene Novakowski In a recent Alberta arbitration award, the arbitrator awarded damages to employees for a breach of their privacy rights, in the amount of $1,250 each. The grievance arose after the province of Alberta conducted background credit checks without consent on 26 government employees. The employees worked in an area–maintenance enforcement–that gave them discretion in […]