Showing posts with label employee relations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label employee relations. Show all posts

Thursday, November 8, 2018

A resignation in lieu of termination is (more or less) still a termination


"At your request, I am submitting my resignation."

So wrote now-former Attorney General Jeff Sessions in his resignation letter to President Trump.

Yet, no one reasonably believes that Sessions resigned. "At your request, I am submitting my resignation" is a termination, period.

Clients ask me all the time, about an at-risk termination. "Jon, what if we just have him resign? He can't sue us for discrimination, then, right?"


Monday, November 5, 2018

Managing Election Day at work


As tomorrow is Election Day, I thought I'd share a few tips for employers to keep in mind.

Monday, October 22, 2018

What you need to know about your office lottery pool


Late Friday afternoon (when the Mega Millions was only a mere billion dollars), I received a phone call from Brian Duffy, a reporter from our local CBS affiliate. "We are doing a story on office lottery pools. Are you the right person for me to interview about some of the legal risks?"

Two hours later, he was sitting in my living room with a cameraperson, interviewing me.

Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, and sometimes your employees make porn at work


Employees lose their jobs for lots of reason.

Including (allegedly) filming porn at work.

Wednesday, March 14, 2018

How your problem employee is like an old hot water tank


Last night, my hot water tank died. It was old (14, to be exact).

During his shower, I heard Donovan yell, “Dad, there’s no hot water, and I’m freezing!” On a hunch, I traveled down to the basement, which is where I found puddles on the floor under and around the tank.

To be fair, we ignored a whole bunch of signals over the past few years. 

Fluctuating water temperatures. A 50-gallon tank that would often deplete in a half-hour. Neighbors that had replaced theirs years ago. 

Which got me thinking … an old hot water tank is not all that different from your problem employee.

Monday, March 5, 2018

A lesson on how to terminate an employee, care of David Brent.


In my opinion, the original British version of The Office is far superior to its American counterpart, in large part because David Brent is so much more cringe-worthy than Michael Scott.

I thought I’d start the week off with a little humor (and a little lesson), care of David Brent, via one of the most awkward employee terminations ever.



Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Employers win when they support the Sandwich Generation


I am declaring today New Year’s Day 2.0.

To put it bluntly, the first 16 days of 2018 sucked. I need a do over.

This has been my 2018 to date.

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Your employees are your brand ambassadors; train them accordingly


“Dad, can you take me to the craft store?”

My 6th grader has a diorama due the day after Thanksgiving break.

So, off Norah and I went to the craft store last night.

Wednesday, November 8, 2017

What’s the worst employee exit you’ve ever seen?


There is a right way to quit a job, and a wrong way to quit a job.

Last week, a Twitter employee demonstrated the worst of the latter.

Thursday, October 26, 2017

When should HR call its lawyer?


Yesterday, I read When is an Employee Issue a Legal Issue (and When Is it HR)?, written by Dan Schwartz on his always excellent Connecticut Employment Law Blog. Dan posits that there are some instances when a business almost always should get legal involved with an employee issue, such as when it receives a “lawyer letter”, receives service of an agency charge or lawsuit, needs to conduct a privileged investigation, or confronts a complex or novel legal issue.

I’d like to address this same question from a more macro level.

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

How much wasted work-time is too much?


According to a recent survey conducted by OfficeTeam, on average, employees spend 8 hours per workweek on non-work activities.

What does this non-work time look like?

Monday, July 17, 2017

What I learned on my summer vacation


Saturday evening my family and I returned from our two-week California vacation. Five nights in Los Angeles, two in Paso Robles (if you ever pass through, I cannot more highly recommend Sculpterra Winery and the Paso Robles Inn), three in Palo Alto (where Donovan participated in a research study seeking a link between Noonan Syndrome and ADHD, and which resulted in both of my kids now wanting to attend Stanford … best of luck to them and me), and three in San Francisco. We had epic adventures, experienced Disney (of course), hiked and biked, enjoyed beautiful scenery, reunited with family and friends, and walked … a lot (72 miles to be precise).


We also learned one valuable HR lesson.

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

R-E-S-P-E-C-T (just a little bit)


I ain’t gonna do you wrong while you’re gone
Ain’t gonna do you wrong ‘cause I don’t wanna
All I’m askin’
Is for a little respect
– Aretha Franklin, “Respect”
Yesterday, my friend and fellow blogger (with whom I tend to agree most of the time), Suzanne Lucas (aka Evil HR Lady), posted an article about which I could not agree more, Why You Should Rarely Fight an Unemployment Claim.

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Communicating with employees is key when a PR crisis strikes


Lots has been said about how United Airlines mishandled violently dragging a passenger from an overbooked flight. And none of it is good. Yet, make no mistake, how United CEO Oscar Munoz communicated with his company’s employees immediately following the incident did not do anything to make it any better.


Monday, March 27, 2017

Bring me the head of employment at will


At his always excellent Connecticut Employment Law Blog, Dan Schwartz recently asked the following question: “What Does ‘At Will’ Employment Really Mean?”

Dan argues that while employment at will is still a valid legal doctrine, if a judge or jury cannot view your termination as “fair”, then they will look for another (illegal) justification for your decision. That examination may not go your way.

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Valentine’s Day at work


I am a Valentine’s Day scrooge. Yet, for someone who goes out of his way to avoid this forced and commercialized celebration of love, I’ve sure written about it a lot over the years. So, for today’s post, let’s take a jaunt back through the February 14(ish) archives, to examine the intersection of V-Day and the workplace.

Thursday, February 9, 2017

“It’s not fair”


Watch this, and then let’s talk about the word fair.


Wednesday, December 7, 2016

7 tips to avoid the holiday party nightmare


’Tis the season for workplace holiday parties. It a time to reflect on the past year and celebrate all your organization has accomplished. It is also a time to avoid liability, hopefully. A lot can go wrong at a holiday party.

For example, consider Shiner v. State Univ. of N.Y. (W.D.N.Y. 11/2/12).

Thursday, November 10, 2016

How do we heal at work after this election season? [Updated]


As someone who’s been blogging as long as I have, nearly all of my life experiences run through my blogging filter. “How can translate this into a blog post about the workplace,” is a question I often ask myself. So this is the place in which I found myself yesterday. “What does a Trump presidency mean for labor and employment law?”


Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Time off from work to vote


Tuesday is Election Day (oh, thank God). As long as Election Day remains a working day, employees will show up to work late, leave work early, or take long lunches, just so that they can vote.

Ohio law requires that an employer provide all employees a reasonable amount of time off to vote on election day. According to Ohio Revised Code 3599.06: