Dear HR, We are hiring one of our current volunteers for a new upper-level position. If the volunteer duties are not involved with the new position, can they do both? Answer: Per BOLI, an employee can only qualify as a volunteer if these four criteria are met: The work must be at the employee´s initiative. The work must be outside normal or regular work hours. The employee must be performing a religious, charitable or […]
Dear HR, I have suspicions about a long-term employee stealing cash. Over the past couple of weeks I have ceded the till with additional money and only once had an overage reported. How should I handle the termination? Should I give the employee this information if I’m not interested in taking additional legal action? Answer: Often if you terminate without giving an explanation, employees may make up the reason on their own, which has […]
Dear HR, We have a female employee who has reported being sexually harassed after hours by male employee. Our on site manager was able to obtain copies of the text messages and verified the phone number. Due to the nature of the messages and the female employee being scared we let her go home and we waited before sending the other employee home only telling them they would be contacted by Cardinal on Monday. Help! […]
Dear HR, One of my delivery drivers is constantly complaining about chronic back pain and tiredness. This employee in the 50+ age range and lifts 50 pounds on a frequent basis. I’m concerned the employee may seriously injure themselves if they continue on this job. What are my options regarding an aging employee? Any ideas on how the employer should handle this? Answer: This can be a very tricky topic and you’ll want to […]
Dear HR, I received a complaint from a customer that an employee at my shop smells like pot. I have not witnessed the employee acting suspiciously so don’t think there is enough to go on for a reasonable suspicion drug test. What can I do? Answer: Privately, and directly, advise the employee of the complaint. Ask if they had smoked/used. Will either get (a) a confession, or more likely, (b) a denial. If (a), […]
Dear HR, Will an Employment Contract keep my employees from jumping ship? Two long time employees have announced they are leaving to go work for a new competitor in the local area after paying out a considerable amount of money for additional industry related training for said employees. Although I can’t match benefits and the higher wages the competitor is offering, can I require employees to sign a contract with my company? I’d ideally like […]
Dear HR, Have you heard of a W-2 contract-to-hire person? It was mentioned that to better protect ourselves, even though we have at-will employment and our health insurance policy will have a 90 day wait period, that we should hire all new employees as W-2 contractors and that at the end of 90 days review for conversion to employee hire. I’m confused…please help! Answer: We have heard this term offered by our clients over […]
Dear HR, At one of our sites two employees went into the restroom, and were in there for an extended period of time. When they came out, the supervisor went in and noticed a strong smell of marijuana. This incident happened at public restroom, so its impossible to say if there was anyone else in the restrooms of the times of the employees. Are we within our rights to drug test the two employee’s in […]
Dear HR, We have interested applicants do an approximate 2 hour working interview to confirm if we would like to hire them. Decided not to hire a recent interviewee – Is working interview pay mandatory? Answer: All applicants must be compensated at least minimum wage for ‘working interviews’ whether they are hired or not. BOLI: “The law has defined ’employed’ to be anytime an employee is ‘suffered or permitted to work.’ Work time is […]
Dear HR, Our company has an annual Christmas party during the holiday season. One of our employees does not celebrate the holidays so in an attempt to accommodate and since it is really more of a year-end employee thank you dinner we were thinking of renamed as such. Is there an issue with calling it a Christmas party? Answer: It’s great that you have decided to reward your employees with a year-end employee thank you […]