HR Administration

Recording birth certificates on I-9s

HR01 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:07:49 GMT

In the case of birth certificates that list a birth number and a number on the bottom left(usually next to the seal), which number should be listed as the document number on the I-9 form?

Time Keeping and Sox Compliance

esherlock — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:53:08 GMT

I am looking for some guidance on exactly what needs to be done regarding timekeeping for exempt employees under SOX. Currently, we are having everyone fill out time sheets weekly (exempt and non-exempt) this seems tedious and overkill. What is really necessary to be doing? What are other companies doing? I can't seem to find anything online clarifying this issue for me.

Tardiness: Help me solve this problem

fayme — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:31:42 GMT

I am the HR mgr in a manufacturing plant, and our floor personnel are technical and highly skilled in an esoteric field. Recruiting for these positions is almost impossible, as there are virtually no candidates, but we are fortunate in that we don't have much turnover. We have a few individuals in these key positions who are chronically late. They punch a timeclock, so they are paid for the time they are at work. The culture since the company was founded about 35 years ago is that those who are chronically late get reprimanded, sometimes with a "write-up" in their file. However, there are really no "teeth" in these actions, and there has always been reluctance to be too drastic with discipline for tardiness, because of the difficulty in filling these positions and the good work that these employees do. Rarely does their lateness cause any real issue; it's just that the company president wants them to be there on time. Currently, we are putting lean practices in place, so these employees are being asked to cooperate with change, which they are doing. Also, like so many companies in this economy, we have had a pay raise freeze in place since February with no end in sight. The production manager has been told he must do something to address the tardiness issue, but he is at a total loss as to what he can do, because a 3-step progressive disicipline process would do more to hurt than the company than to hurt the employee if, for example, Step 3 were to result in termination. Has anyone out there dealt with a situation like this?

Using software to monitor employee usage of Internet

TABHR — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:08:02 GMT

Are we obligated to advise employees that this is being done?

Are there risks to firing employee after he monitoring on the basis of the content of emails?

Scrap and coaching vs. Discipline

larscl — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:22:20 GMT

I am currently using a 4 step disciplinary policy for employees. We are finding that it isn't the most effective when it comes to employees that are creating scrap. We are especially having trouble when it comes to our 3rd step of suspension. A day off without pay for creation of scrap is not helping in fact employees come back to work with a worse attitude about the creation of scrap when they left! Any ideas out there? Does anyone use a coaching or retraining day rather than suspension?

Thank you,

Cheri

DOT Employee Files

lstire3 — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:01:07 GMT

This is my first experience with DOT Drivers. Do you have separate files for their DOT stuff (drug test results, copy of medical card, driving abstract, etc) or do you just keep it in their regular employee file?

Thanks

DOT drivers' applications asking for DOB

lstire3 — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:49:17 GMT

In all of my previous positions our applications did not ask for an employees date of birth. I believe this was to avoid the possibility of us being accused of age discrimination.

However, in my new position I have CDL A drivers that are subject to DOT regulations. The company's current application asks for their date of birth. I have searched and found other applcations for DOT that also ask for their age. But the applications for non-DOT positions do not ask for DOB.

I've tried the DOT web site and others but can't find anything on why the DOT applications ask for DOB.

Relocation/Moving Expenses

anessao — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 18:55:22 GMT

We have an employee that we relocated a few months ago. He has traveled home several times to check on the sell of his house. I know that we are required to gross up certain relocation expenses for tax purposes, however I need to know if there is a cap as to how many trips an employee is allowed (to be grossed up) per IRS regulations. Can anyone help?

Relocation Expenses

PT — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:14:52 GMT

One of my principals wants to treat relocation expenses as a loan...anyone done this before? I've never heard of it being handled as a loan. If you have, can you provide an example of the agreement? Thanks,

Health Parameters in workplace

djlief — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:27:01 GMT

I have an employee that has a very unfortunate medical history and work history. This employee has sued her last 2 employers for various things (COBRA violations, etc.) and tells me that she keeps 3 attorneys on retainer at all times just in case she needs one. According to her she regularly sues people. I have a good relationship with her, but believe caution is always required when dealing with her. She is salaried and has been an employee for 2 1/2 years. Almost immediately after coming to work for us she was diagnosed with metastatic *** cancer and had to take off work for for several weeks due to surgery and chemo. She had an inordinate amount of time off for follow-up doc visits, chemo, etc. She has since shared her medical history with me and relates a history of two prior strokes. She currently sees her doctor regularly for uncontrolled high blood pressure. 2 weeks ago, while I was out of the office, she left work due to a very high blood pressure reading. She went to see her cardiologist who sent her to the emergency room. At the ER she relates that she was diagnosed as having a TIA (transient ischemic attack)and temporarily lost her vision in her left eye. This was on a Friday. She returned to work on Monday, said she was better, that her vision had returned and that she would be seeing another specialist regarding her blood pressure that is still uncontrolled. My question is this: In my employee handbook, we require an employee to provide proof of illness from a physician after three days of absence" - this is the only illusion we make to a physician's release to work in our P&Ps. With that in mind, would it be reasonable for me to ask for her for a letter from her physician releasing her to work and more importantly what parameters her blood pressure must within to be to be allowed to work? I realize she has already been back to work for 2 weeks, but am more concerned about her continuing to work when her blood pressure is still too high. We are a medical facility and are very consicious of medical condidtions. I fear she may be working when she shouldn't be as her blood pressure is still high. I don't want her having a stroke while she's at work and I believe she is a walking time bomb. I also want to be sure I'm not requiring something of her that would put us in jeopardy of being sued.

New Supervisor and Personnel Files

edaffin — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 16:50:54 GMT

Can someone give me their policy on allowing supervisors to view the contents of their suborinates personnel files?

We have a new manager that wants to pull the files of his employees. Does anyone allow the supervisor to view the employees' file in the Human Resource department? Or do you only pull what the supervisor requests to see?

Social Media as an Internal Communicaiton Tool

HRChick09 — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:35:48 GMT

We are throwing around the idea of introducing social media as an internal communication method for our organization via two options – 1) an external social media site (facebook or twitter) or 2) via an upgraded intranet software. I’m sure companies have done it both ways and there are pros and cons for each. I would love to get a discussion going here to gain some new perspectives.

Employee files

hbarnes — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:52:55 GMT

I have a law firm that is requesting a copy of an old employee's file what can I release?

Employee stealing lunch

hbarnes — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:03:02 GMT

Any suggestions about how to handle employee stealing associates lunch? We don't know who it is but I really need to address this.

Phone Interviews

LeiTodd — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 01:35:05 GMT

I am looking for a phone interview form to use that is simple and easy. I need to be able to gather additional information that is helpful in the decision making process especially for entry level positions. Do you have anything that you could share with me that you have found to useful?

Employee Leaving the Company Gifts

MNHR952 — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 19:55:19 GMT

Hello,

Does anyone have a policy on amounts you spending as a parting gift for retirees or those who have made significant contributions to the company? Would you be willing to share? How do you distinguish between executive, middle management, other professionals?

Thank you in advance!

Self Service

kitems — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 21:57:28 GMT

I am investigating HR/benefits self service solutions for a company of around 2000 employees and wondering peoples experience with different vendors. Interested in the standard employee and manager self service offerings plus anything that maybe we haven't thought of!

thanks

I-9s kept separately from personnel files

tgreen1313 — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 17:24:00 GMT

Does anyone have any knowledge if this is a requirement or just a safe administrative decision?

Affirmative Action

6239206 — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 20:14:55 GMT

I work for a small federal contractor and I can't seem to find their Affirmative Action Plan. Does anyone have a sample AAP and applicant tracking template they might be willing to share? It would be greatly appreciated.

Lisa L

Massachusetts

State Holidays

kprefontaine — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:03:18 GMT

Please help,

I am finding the information confusing on what, as a private employer, we must give as state or national holidays. There are so many listed but not all lists are the same. What are we required to close for, and pay for?

Thanks,

Pay Before and After the Holiday

Deldra — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 15:34:07 GMT

We currently have a PTO program. If you have a similar program, do you know whether or not a policy can be instituted stating you must work before or after the holiday to be paid??? I heard that since PTO programs do not have “true” holidays, you can not have that type of policy. However, if that’s the case, I wonder if I can “get around it” by actually stating the dates – i.e., “You will not be paid if you are scheduled but call out on the following dates: November 25, November 27, December 24, December 26, etc.”??

Conflicts of Interest

PHS09 — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 19:23:20 GMT

Anyone have their employees sign a conflicts of interest agreement? I'm trying to draft one up for our employees and could really use some help or examples of the type of information you include.

Athletics Director requests very low salary

hkb1944 — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:04:02 GMT

We are a non-profit, private, Christian university. The Athletics Director that we hired recently requested that he only be paid $12,000/year. That's less than minimum wage. Is this legal? Do I need his request in writing? Should I classify him as non-exempt? Does he have to complete a time card each week?

I think I've initiated an internal investigation...

gi_janearng — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:27:34 GMT

Concerning one of our supervisors and an employee beneath him. Now where do I go from here? I know the first thing to keep in mind is document, document, document...but what things should I be documenting and looking for?

The gist of it is there has been some very unfavorable reviews concerning the employee done by the supervisor with the intent to try and fire this employee for personal reasons rather than the good of the company. All I have is copies of the evaluations....the originals are convenietly missing and there is suspicion that one of the "evals" was written by an outside party not employed by are company, dictated by the supervisor of course. And there is no word of documentation existing to back any of this up. It's just a mess and I fear a lawsuit coming forth if it isn't stopped now.

I should add that my boss doesn't feel that things are bad enough for an internal investigation. But the employee has been given copies of the "bad" evaluations and I feel we really can't destroy our copies and tell her to the same as if nothing happened, so they have to be part of some sort of file. What else is there if HR isn't really investigating what is going on?

Files on employees outside of HR files.

gi_janearng — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 19:04:19 GMT

For awhile now I've read debate on employee files being maintained by managers other than what is already the "official" records kept in the HR office and how it could possibly be an issue from a legal standpoint. I know for a fact that one of our department's office assistants is maintaing at least some sort of file on that department's employees in terms of pay adjuments/transfers. This is an old habit mainly because our personnel action forms are in triplicate and no one has really thought of anything better. I have reason to believe that if she is keeping copies of approved pay adjustments, she is keeping copies of evaluations and anything else that might be routed through her by "her" employees before getting to me. What are your thoughts on this and how do you go about stopping the creation of these extra files?