As we approach 11 months since the first case of COVID-19 was reported in the United States, it is becoming clear that the pandemic (and its effects on the economy) will be here for the foreseeable future. By this point, many employers may have already had to undergo a company-wide reduction-in- force (RIF) or permanently […]
Who needs human resources? As we have all recently learned — just about everyone! Human resources during times of crisis (or pandemic, as the case may be) are crucial to business. Don’t believe me? Let’s look at what HR has been asked to do during the last week and a half: Layoff hundreds (sometimes thousands) […]
A Tennessee-based professional caregiving company has agreed to pay $200,000 to settle a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on behalf of a former employee. The EEOC filed suit alleging the company’s policy regarding pregnant employees violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the […]
The recent events at a Northern California car dealership, which left three people dead, highlight the importance of being prepared when disciplining and discharging employees. Just after 6:00pm on Tuesday, June 25th, police responded to multiple reports of shots being fired at a car dealership in Morgan Hill, California. When police arrived, they found a […]
Document. Document. Document. When faced with a claim or lawsuit, documentation can make or break an employer’s defense. Often, no documentation is the issue and that can be fatal. No documentation makes it appear that the employer did not care enough to make a note of what was going on – or worse, that the […]
By: Rob Parker A recent HR Hotline call brought up an issue we see quite frequently: termination of an employee where poor performance has not been documented. Of course, in these situations, things are always more complicated than they first appear. This was the case in this recent HR Hotline call. Company recently rehired an […]
A recent case out of Illinois joins a host of cases from other states holding that an employer that disciplines or terminates an employee for inappropriate conduct caused by a disability does not violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Employers are given wide latitude to develop […]
By: Amy Matthews Hire slowly, fire quickly. This is a saying that has been around for a while, and I always casually toss it at employers like a mantra. In fact, I did this a couple of weeks ago, and the business owner said, “Why?” After some pondering, this is what I told her: Company […]
By: Rob Parker Sometimes an employee may become uncharacteristically difficult to work with because he/she is coping with a stressful personal matter. Sometimes you hire an employee who is difficult to work with from the start and remains that way through the course of his/her employment. So, what do you do if this particularly difficult […]
by Rob Parker It is difficult enough to deal with employees who have an intimate or romantic relationship and the potential for sexual harassment claims. But what if the sex is consensual, and occurs in the workplace? An executive had been hearing rumors that one of his managers, who was married, was having an affair with […]
