It may be air conditioned in the office, but summer still brings out the widest array of attire by employees. To be sure you can keep your cool when it comes to enforcing office dress code policies, follow these do’s and don’ts. Do: Know that you have the power to set the rules and enforce them. Dress […]
HR Policy Update: Time for a Workplace Bullying Policy?
Guest Blogger Sheila Scott, Director, Client Relations. Although U.S. law does not require employers to have a policy and training that address workplace bullying, experts say that such policies are good business practice and help promote a culture of civility and respect in the workplace. According to a survey sponsored by the Workplace Bullying Institute […]
Is There A Place For Social Media In HR
At this point, I think it’s fair to say we’ve all accepted that our employees are going to be on social media, whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, or whatever else is the new fad. Early on in the outbreak of social media there was a tendency for Human Resources to say, “not my area, […]
HR Compliance is Big Money
It struck me recently when the front page of the Boston Globe’s Business section on October 9, 2012 ran two articles that involved labor disputes. The first was an article on the Upper Crust Restaurant filing for bankruptcy and the second was about Progressive Gourmet’s workers suing the company. Upper Crust’s financial issues are, in […]
HR Compliance – Legal Update
Ask Dave: Q: I’ve heard that exempt employees need to track time under MA law – is this true? A: Under Federal law employers are required to keep the hours of non-exempt employees. Under Massachusetts law, employers are also required to keep the hours of exempt employees (MA statute below). 455 CMR 2.06: Notice and Recordkeeping (2) […]
What is Lifestyle Discrimination?
There’s a new term gaining popularity – lifestyle discrimination. Lifestyle discrimination protects employees against employers who impose certain lifestyle requirements, such as only hiring non-smokers. It can become lifestyle discrimination if the company requires that employees not smoke when they’re not at work, off duty and/or off work premises. A company can require that employees not […]
Employee Benefits – Is Your Time Off Policy Set Up to Manage Time?
It’s a new year which means, for many companies, their time off policies, such as vacation and sick, reset back to zero. Based on your company’s policy, employees may have carried over a week or two of unused vacation or PTO time or maybe you have a use-it-or-lose policy where they lost time unused. Regardless […]
Does Your Employee Handbook Protect You From Holiday Party Mishaps?
With all the talk of holiday parties, I began to wonder what policies in a Company’s Employee Handbook set the expectations for how employees are expected to behave at these functions? Invariably, we HR professionals come up against some issue stemming from a holiday party every year. Scenarios include the employee who drinks to much […]
Mass General to Settle HIPAA violation
Last week, Massachusetts General Hospital agreed to a $1,000,000 settlement for potential Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA) violations. In addition to the financial penalty, the ruling requires that Mass General develop and implement a comprehensive set of policies and procedures to protect the privacy of its patients. This ruling came after the health and other […]
