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Customer Tip About Employee Drug Use—What To Do?
8/29/2008
We had a customer call our office and ask us if we did random drug testing of our employees. We said we do not, and he told us that if we did, one of our employees would not pass and went on to describe that employee. We asked if something happened while he was a customer here . . . more

What to do about employment "brain drain"?
8/22/2008
A bunch of our most senior workers are preparing to retire in the next few years, and I'm frankly worried about what's going to happen to our company when they're gone. They possess years of experience and know-how that we have no idea how we're going to replace, and new hires are harder and harder to come by these days--even in this crummy economy. Any suggestions for us? . . . more

Family and Medical Leave: How Should We Handle Employees Who Regularly Call in Sick on Short Notice?
8/8/2008
A few of our employees call in sick on a semi-regular basis with legitimate but unpredictable health issues relating to conditions like epilepsy and asthma. Is this time off covered by FMLA/CFRA? The employees can't give us much advance notice because their symptoms come on so suddenly. . . . more

Accommodation: What Should We Consider When Addressing Employees with Disabilities?
8/1/2008
We're encountering challenging disability accommodation situations because of differences in California and federal law. Is the California definition of "disability" always going to be more favorable to employees than federal law? I also don't understand why whether a person has a disability is determined under California law without considering mitigating measures. If a person is taking medication that completely eliminates the disability, do we have to accommodate it? . . . more

Can We Force Employees to Take Vacation During a Twice-Yearly Shutdown?
7/25/2008
We've been struggling with keeping production up because of employee vacations. So instead of trying to fight vacation schedules, we want to start shutting down for a week in December and again in July and making everyone take vacation during those weeks. Are there any laws about doing this or any problems that you foresee? How much notice do we have to give? How would we go about phasing this in? . . . more

Can You Help Us Rewrite Our Dress Code?
7/18/2008
We're in the process of rewriting our employee handbook, and we want to modify our employee appearance policy. What do we need to consider? We want our employees to look professional, but we don't want to get caught in a lawsuit. . . . more

Workplace Bullying: Do You Have Any Advice on Recognizing and Preventing Bullying at Work?
7/11/2008
We have an "aggressive" employee who seems to make her co-workers uncomfortable by loudly criticizing them; we think we have a bully on our staff. Is workplace bullying illegal? Do you have any tips for us to recognize and prevent bullying at work? Thanks. . . . more

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

Additional Items

Complete Topic List
Benefits & Leave
Compensation
Discrimination
Health & Safety
HR Administration
Performance Appraisal
Staffing & Training
Unions