By Lynne Curry Question: I’m a small business owner and trust my employees. The majority are great. In the past two years, I’ve actively sought ways to reward them for hard work and keep them motivated. When our amazing summer began in May, I shortened our work week to four days for as long as summer lasted, giving every employee a guilt-free Friday off. I manage based … [Read more...] about HR scenario: How do I handle ‘quiet vacationing’?
Termination
What you write can come back and bite
By Lynne Curry Your recorded words—they’re direct evidence. Direct evidence is evidence that proves the existence of a fact. Direct evidence includes someone else’s direct observations as in “I saw…,” “I heard….” Here’s a case where a staffing firm torpedoed itself and their client. The firm’s recruiter emailed 66,000 recipients. They emailed 66,000 individuals seeking … [Read more...] about What you write can come back and bite
To avoid a messy workplace theft investigation, can we just fire our prime suspect?
By Lynne Curry Question: Several years ago, when one of our employees was stealing from other employees’ purses and lockers, we called the police. The process — calling the police, alerting our insurance carrier and interviewing multiple employees to show fairness so we wouldn’t get sued for wrongful termination when we fired the one employee — tore apart our … [Read more...] about To avoid a messy workplace theft investigation, can we just fire our prime suspect?
What does FMLA require of a medical office employer?
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is one of the employment laws that protect your staff. It is a federal law that requires certain employers to provide their employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year for certain qualified medical and family reasons. For a medical office employer, the FMLA requires that they provide eligible employees with … [Read more...] about What does FMLA require of a medical office employer?
Employer challenges employee’s social media posts
By Lynne Curry Question: I got pulled into the HR manager’s office Friday, handed screenshots of my last three Facebook posts, and told I needed to take them down. She also said I needed to stop posting any comments about the Israeli/Hamas conflict. Apparently one of my coworkers complained about my posts. I can’t believe I’m asked to take down posts I create under my … [Read more...] about Employer challenges employee’s social media posts
How to handle a scamming, scheming staffer
By Lynne Curry Question: I run a small firm. When I advertised for a new hire, I didn’t find anyone who had the right skill set. “Will” applied. Although he lacked the skills I sought, he interviewed well and said he was willing to learn everything necessary to become my No. 1 employee. I took a chance on him and invested months in training him. He shadowed me, developed … [Read more...] about How to handle a scamming, scheming staffer
Non-compete agreements and deceiving your employer
By Lynne Curry Question: I was so stoked when the premier firm in my area of professional services hired me that I did something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. I told my former manager what I thought of her. She ordered me to leave her company immediately. No problem, I had a new job to go to. I also had my entire future mapped out. I’d work for my new employer for a … [Read more...] about Non-compete agreements and deceiving your employer
Don’t delay if you have to deliver bad news
By Lynne Curry “It’s not the difficult conversations that bite you the hardest,” I told the manager. “It’s the ones you put off until too late.” I listened to the manager’s reasons and told him, “Here are the risks you take. You dread telling ‘Robert’ what and how he needs to improve because he lashes out at you and remains sullen for days after you’ve counseled him. You … [Read more...] about Don’t delay if you have to deliver bad news
‘It was just a joke’: Jokes and social media posts gone wrong
By Lynne Curry Question: During the Christmas holidays, I attended a social event where my wife and I told a series of jokes to and about each other. Several others at our table were equally rowdy, and everyone enjoyed our jokes. While I knew individuals at other tables were watching the fun we were having, I didn’t realize one of them was recording us. The recording made it … [Read more...] about ‘It was just a joke’: Jokes and social media posts gone wrong
5 lessons employers can learn from Elon Musk’s Twitter crises
By Lynne Curry When multi-billionaire and Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk acquired Twitter on Oct. 27, he assumed leadership of a company that hadn’t earned a profit in eight of its ten years, By Nov. 4, eight days later, 1.3 million users had fled Twitter. Revenue dropped dramatically as advertisers, Twitter’s main revenue source, pulled out. One could feel sorry for Musk—except … [Read more...] about 5 lessons employers can learn from Elon Musk’s Twitter crises