Human Resources

Do you allow your employees personal use of your company's equipment? If you do, consider your liability. Many employers, as a benefit, allow their employees personal use of company vehicles, equipment, and other property. For example, Ted, who owned a car dealership, let employees work on...

09 October, 2019

One of our employees interviewed a candidate today and emailed me afterwards. He was impressed by the candidate, but grew concerned after the candidate mentioned having social anxiety. He wondered whether the anxiety could affect the candidate’s ability to do the job. I reminded the...

07 October, 2019

Involve your employees in ways to improve your organization's productivity. One way is to take some improvement tests with your employees and discuss the findings. Ask your employees to "Imagine you're self-employed. Imagine you're a freelance writer, for example." Then give them the following test situations...

11 September, 2019

If you discover an employee has been falsifying their timecard, you should refer to your policies and past practice. Hopefully, you have a policy that makes it clear that timesheets must be accurate and that failure to report time correctly could lead to discipline—up to...

09 September, 2019

An employee quit after training and orientation, but before starting their actual job. Do we have to pay them?   Yes, this former employee must be paid for the time they spent in required orientation and training, even if they did not begin their regularly scheduled work. Under...

02 September, 2019

Are there any questions we should avoid when interviewing job candidates?   Yes. You should avoid questions that cause an applicant to tell you about their inclusion in a protected class. Don’t ask about race, national origin, citizenship status, religious affiliation, disabilities, pregnancy, sexual orientation or gender...

19 August, 2019