News

A well-written, thoughtfully crafted employee handbook is one of the most important tools you have for making sure your organization can defend itself in court. However, like any form of documentation, it’s possible for your handbook to be used against you.

Do you have a policy requiring injured workers to be 100% healed before they can return to work? Then get ready to write a big check, either for court-ordered damages or—if your lawyer is smart—to settle a lawsuit before it reaches the courtroom.

Are there recommended strategies or scripts for re-educating employees with open FMLA intermittent leave cases on their responsibilities, especially around call-in procedures and usage restrictions?

When the threat of an employee lawsuit looms, most employers are advised to take a tough stance, fight the charges and never admit guilt. But some attorneys now advocate that an often-overlooked option of simply saying “I’m sorry” in certain situations may actually soothe feelings, and even defuse legal action.

Confidence in employment law compliance is high—but for many organizations, that confidence isn’t backed by budget.

With absenteeism a major drain on productivity, more employers are using a trick from the third grade—perfect-attendance awards—to motivate employees to come to work. Here’s why such awards probably aren’t the best carrots.

Jonathan Segal, a partner at Duane Morris LLP, tells HR professionals to stay cognizant as he witnesses “an explosion and evolution” of antisemitic views. He advises them to condemn antisemitism as they would other workplace -isms.

If you are in the restaurant or entertainment industry and require employees to wear revealing outfits at work, prepare for an unfortunate if entirely predictable consequence: Customers may harass your workers. That’s a genuine legal risk, and it’s just as serious as if a supervisor was doing the harassing.

We use an applicant tracking system to help with screening and hiring. Until recently, we were able to link the ATS privacy policy to notify applicants of their privacy rights to the information they submit. They have now told us we need to link to our own privacy policy. Can we adopt theirs (copy and paste) as our own?

We provide company cell phones for our employees. Sometimes it can be a hassle to use two phones, the company and personal. If we decided to have our employees use their personal cell phones, could that be a jeopardy for the company?