No matter how smoothly things usually go in a workplace, there may come a time when colleagues don’t get along for some reason. Many of these disputes settle themselves over time, but not all of them. It might be two co-workers arguing over who is in charge of a project, … Read More
Recent trends in Montana and federal law are making employee manuals more important than ever. Courts are reading them in wrongful discharge cases and expecting employers to follow them; businesses that don’t follow their policies are at fault even if the discharge wasn’t otherwise wrongful. Not having a manual means … Read More
Nonprofit boards vary wildly in their effectiveness, from barely functional to highly effective. One thing that sets the effective boards apart from the less so is a solid understanding of the board’s function and how each board member fits in. No piece of paper can change the culture of a … Read More
One of the most common misconceptions about a job description is that everyone gets one that fits perfectly what they do all week. In a lot of cases, this works, especially in large companies. But in smaller companies where one person may be asked to do a variety of jobs, … Read More
If an employee comes to you or any member of management with a claim of harassment, you need to act on it quickly. Even if an employee requests that you don’t do anything about their complaint, you have a legal obligation to investigate it. Don’t wait a few days for the … Read More
There are three ways to think about an employee manual: Required boilerplate that sits in a dusty binder on a high shelf HR stuff that only the back office needs to deal with A management tool that makes everyday life easier for bosses and supervisors The first way will get … Read More
References are a time-honored way to find out more about a job candidate, and a perennial headache. It seems so easy to ask a previous employer about a candidate, but it often brings up challenges. You will get better references if you ask for the right kinds. Personal references are … Read More
If an employee makes a complaint about your business – discrimination, safety violations, harassment, financial irregularities – your next and possibly bigger problem is avoiding a retaliation claim. Whether or not the original complaint was true or validated, an employee can claim that you retaliated against them for the complaint … Read More
Under both the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) and the FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act), an employer can ask for medical certification of a disability or of the need for leave. For a disability, be sure that you tailor the request for information to the specific duties of the job … Read More
Thanks to a recent US Supreme Court case (Vance v. Ball State University), there are some changes in how businesses define a supervisor – or there should be. A supervisor is no longer just anyone who gives another employee directions or assigns tasks. Now a supervisor has to have some … Read More