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Compensation: Should We Give Quick Raises to New People for Better Retention Results?
6/27/2008
I just read an article that said it's important to give raises to good new employees soon after hiring or you'll lose them. Sure, that may be a good idea in theory, but if I do that, the new people will make more than the workers who have been around for much longer. And that's not going to be a secret for too long around here. . . . more

Harassment: What Is the Best Response When I Get a 'Hint' That Inappropriate Behavior Is Occurring in the Workplace?
6/20/2008
I've gotten hints and heard rumors through the grapevine about inappropriate activity going on in my company. In one case, a manager is allegedly "hitting on" a subordinate, and in another case, apparently employees are making fun of a co-worker on their project team because she is African-American. I don't have any evidence or . . . more

Family Leave: Can I Fire Someone on Family Leave?
6/13/2008
Some issues have arisen with several of our employees who are out on leave--their jobs have been changed or eliminated, and one employee has done something that warrants termination. But someone told me that these workers are "protected" because they are on leave. Can we go ahead and fire them, or will we be slapped with a retaliation lawsuit? . . . more

Age Discrimination: We Have a Five-Year Training Program; Can We Hire Only Younger People?
6/6/2008
We have a training program that involves five years of rotating assignments before employees are ready to really start the job. And it is a few years after that before they start to actually contribute significant profits. Because we have to invest so much in their . . . more

E-Challenges: How Can We Get Employees to Follow Our Internet Usage Guidelines?
5/30/2008
We have tried to be clear with our employees about Internet use but we believe a lot of unauthorized use and personal emailing is still going on. How far can we go in monitoring our employees' use of the Internet while at work? . . . more

Leave: Can We Change Our Policy to Limit Carryover of Accrued PTO Time?
5/23/2008
We thought managing PTO was going to be easy, but we've found some problems with carryover of PTO hours. We currently allow unlimited carryover, but that's going to cause some problems down the road (like three-month vacations). So we'd like to limit carryover. Is there a carryover rule? . . . more

Sexual Harassment: Can Third Parties Sue for Harassment?
5/16/2008
We've got two situations in which third parties are complaining about sexual harassment. In one case, an office couple is "carrying on" in front of another employee who is complaining about a "hostile environment." In the other case, employees--male and female--are complaining that a co-worker was promoted because she is sleeping with the boss. That sounded like a dangerous situation to me, but now a colleague tells me that can't be harassment because males and females are being treated the same--badly, but the same. What rights do third parties have when it comes to harassment, and what actions should I take? . . . more

Recordkeeping: Can We Use Paperless I-9s?
5/9/2008
I've heard that some companies are changing over to paperless I-9 records. How do I go about doing so, and what are the benefits? . . . more

Heat Illness: What Must We Do to Protect Outdoor Workers in the Summer Heat?
5/2/2008
We employ a number of workers in outdoor jobs during the summer. With summer heat coming on, are there Cal/OSHA requirements we need to comply with in this regard . . . more

Travel Pay: What Time Is Paid Work Time When Nonexempt Employees Travel?
4/25/2008
We're having a devil of a time figuring out precisely how to pay our nonexempt employees when they travel. If they travel by air and stay overnight, do we start paying as soon as they leave their house for the airport? Then let's say the plane lands at 7 p.m., they go to the hotel, settle in, and go out for dinner. When do we stop paying--when they arrive at the hotel? Also, I gather that we can pay a lower rate for travel time--do most companies do that? If we end up paying overtime for travel periods, does that get paid at the lower travel rate? Sorry for the picky questions. . . . more

Hiring: What Are Some of the Common Things People Lie About on Resumes?
4/18/2008
We're trying to be as careful as possible in prescreening the people we interview. We hear a lot about resume falsification--some amazing percentage of resumes supposedly have "mistakes" or outright lies on them. What are some of the common things people lie about on their resumes, and will a routine background check pick up the lies? . . . more

Employee Leave: Will You Please Help Me Fill In the Blanks on California's Military Spouse Rule?
4/11/2008
Our firm has many employees whose spouses are in the military, so we're gearing up to handle leave requests in compliance with the state's recent law. While trying to set up our policies, we've come across some questions that don't seem to be answered in the materials we have received. Do we have to let the employees take leave on the days . . . more

Workers' Compensation: Can Workers Collect Sick Pay on Top of Disability Pay?
4/4/2008
When an employee is out of work on workers' compensation--and also is getting partial pay--and he or she takes sick days out of our bank, does he or she get paid sick pay plus workers' comp? Or can we somehow allocate the sick time to just the difference between workers' comp and the employee's regular pay? . . . more

Hiring: Is It a Good Idea to 'Google' Applicants?
3/28/2008
I recently returned from a meeting where one expert recommended doing a Google search on applicants as part of the evaluation process. He said you often find very interesting things about people, especially if they blog or have their own website. Someone else thought it might be an invasion of privacy, . . . more

Background Checks: Don't Get Burned; Verify Job Candidates' Employment Histories
3/21/2008
Background checks can range from a routine check to a full investigation, which might even involve using an outside investigator, which takes time and . . . more

Terminations: If Employment Is At Will, Can I Fire for Any or No Reason?
3/14/08
Employees are hired for no specific time period, with no contractual relationship, and employment can be terminated by either party, for any or no reason, with or without notice, unless specifically prohibited by law. These last five words are the cause of the vexation and the reason you need to be cautious whenever terminating an at-will employee. . . . more

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