02/13/2012
Q. I have an employee who is known as a troublemaker. When she’s upset, the whole team is upset, due to union contract in effect. I want to get rid of her. Recently, she asked for a copy of her personnel file and I haven’t provided it to her because there was nothing in it. But I have to do some type of disciplines to include in the file before I give it to her because she has never had any violations against her. What can I do to get rid of her sooner? - Anonymous, Indiana
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02/13/2012
Q. Regarding the question from Jan. 23 (" Can I discipline a worker for poor monthly sales numbers?"), why does it matter if there is a union contract in place or not? Please explain the difference between the two. The union contract states that in order for a member to be disciplined, the company must have just cause, I don’t feel it is the company's burden of proof to show its numbers are right. Is that wrong? -- Anonymous
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02/06/2012
Q. I have used public records before making post-employment job offers (after an individual has accepted and acknowledged with signature), but never before the offer or an interview. I am aware of the general rules regarding consumer credit reporting and background screening, but I don't know of any specifics regarding public state or local records. Each of these are public sites. My first inclination is that we cannot use these public records for pre-employment decisions without following the guidelines of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. However, would utilizing a public record pre-hire or even pre-interview actually violate an individual's rights under consumer credit reporting or any other federal or state law? (We're based in Oklahoma but operate in five other states. – Charlie, Oklahoma
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02/06/2012
Q. I recently terminated an employee who was first hired part-time on 8/15/11 and later became full-time on 10/3/11. When hired, she was offered 15 vacation days, five personal days and 10 sick days. Now that she has been terminated, is she owed the five personal days in addition to the vacation days she has accrued since going on full-time status? – Anonymous, New Jersey
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02/06/2012
Q. What are the record retention laws for employees records for the state of North Carolina? – Dario, North Carolina
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01/30/2012
Q. Do we have to pay employees who clock in early, (i.e. 5:00 p.m.) but don't actually start working until their scheduled time (6:00 p.m.)? – Juelee, Wisconsin
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01/30/2012
Q. I am currently conducting the annual review of our employee handbook. I realized that we do not have a written policy on the use of Social Media during or after working hours. Our IT department has eliminated the use of Facebook on company computers. However, other social media websites are accessible, and we are beginning to expand our marketing efforts into areas such as LinkedIn and a company blog. How important is it to include a written Social Media policy in our handbook? – Laurie, Minnesota
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01/30/2012
Q. If we have union contract and want to change the attendance policy to be able to get rid of all the people who take FMLA, OR approved disability, is it okay to change from past polices that have satisfactory dates to no satisfactory dates at all. We also want to skip counseling and warnings upfront and go straight to written warning on first offense if the person was on FMLA and the time ran out while he was out. Can I discipline that employee even if the past attendance was good as long as I discipline all employees the same way? – Anonymous, Indiana
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01/23/2012
Q. We have a company party each year at an off-site location. We reimburse employees who live 50 miles away half of their hotel room for the night. What is our responsibility or liability if alleged harassment takes place after the party is over and occurs in one of the rooms we partially paid for? The people involved evidently had a lot of alcohol to drink and I think the event happened early in the morning, possibly around 2 or 3 am. Do we investigate the harassment claim or not since it happened away from work and on a weekend? – Robin, Iowa
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01/23/2012
Q. I'm a manager and I want to discipline one of my employee for his monthly sales numbers. But he has a contract that says that before any discipline the company must have just cause. I don’t feel the burden of proof is on the company. For example, if I give him my numbers that show failure, and he gives me his calculations that show passing, I don’t know how to find out what got canceled out of employees sales. Do I have the right to discipline this employee who has different scores than I do? – Anonymous, Indiana
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01/04/2012
Q. One of our department managers would like to extend a bonus payment to one of his employees with this condition attached: the employee would have to remain employed by the company for a period of one year, otherwise the bonus would need to be repaid using the employee’s final payment. If the employee signs a document agreeing to these conditions, is it legal? – Mary, Illinois
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12/15/2011
Q. We have a lot of employees who get tardies for being late and their excuse has been they have been in the bathroom due to disability. So I follow them to the bathroom because I know the employees are lying. Am I breaking the law by following them or is this considered harassment? Please help, because it’s getting out of hand. – Pam, Indiana
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12/12/2011
Q. If HR is mandating that an employee seek intervention through our Employee Assistance Program for two weeks, should HR automatically offer the employee FMLA leave? The employee is eligible for FMLA. -- Imelda, Pennsylvania
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12/12/2011
Q. In our organization, employees going on FMLA medical leave due to a personal illness (not for family) typically start receiving Short-term disabily (STD) on the 31st day of leave. Any paid leave an employee receives within the first 30 days of medical leave is paid, utilizing their own accrued sick or vacation leave. If an employee (let’s say for maternity) is given a clearance to return to work in six weeks, her STD pay stops at that point, as well. If she wants to stay out past the approved six-week period, are we required, as the employer, to allow her to utilize any residual sick or vacation leave she may still have on the books? Or, is there any law indicating that we cannot block her from being able to use time that she has accrued? – S. Williams, Virginia
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11/28/2011
Q. One of our employees was arrested on felony drug charges. He has posted bail and wishes to return to work while awaiting trial. Is the employee's job protected or can we terminate him due to the arrest? – Anonymous, North Carolina
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