Stop thief!  A cry on the subway?  A call for help on a crowded sidewalk?  A homeowner’s shout to neighbors?  Or a frustrating demand from human resources?
Employee theft is nothing new.  It’s just bigger than ever.  I’ve seen estimates that employers in the U.S. lose anywhere from $4 billion to $40 billion per year to […]

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I must give credit for this post to a colleague, Michael Maslanka, a partner in the Dallas office of Ford & Harrison and the editor of the Texas Employment Law Letter.  He also writes a column called “Work Matters” for In-House Texas.  One of his recent columns was titled “No Jerks Allowed.”  I encourage you to […]

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I suppose the first kind of workplace violence was the old-fashioned workplace fight.  Fights still happen at work.  Sometimes, they involve some pushing and shoving.  Sometimes, blows are thrown and landed.  Fights obviously aren’t what you want going on at work–ever.
Almost all employers have rules against fighting on the job.  If you have a handbook, it’ll be in the handbook.  […]

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The title of this post was the title of a post written for The Employment File less than six months ago.  When spring arrives and turns into summer, employer dress codes usually begin to receive scrutiny.  It’s fair to say that employees would like to dress more casually during warm or hot weather, and whether it’s fair to […]

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This is the shortest tip yet.  It might also be the most important. 
Every day this week, spend ten minutes with a different employee, ask him or her what should be done differently in your organization and why, listen carefully, ask questions to clarify if necessary, tell him or her that you will think about it and […]

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This blog has contained numerous posts about documentation, an important part of almost every aspect of employment.
But is it possible to overdocument?  In a word, yes.  How so?
Documenting insignificant or trivial matters–If you do this, it makes all your documentation questionable.  Documentation is for important stuff.  If you throw in everything, a court is likely to think about throwing it all […]

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Are you kidding?  You’re not suggesting that I consider ditching something that’s as old as hiring and firing?  Yep.
Don’t have performance reviews if:
–They aren’t honest about employees’ deficiencies and designed to help them improve their performance.
–They aren’t given timely.
–They aren’t consistently given to all employees.
–They don’t cover the entire review period (not just the last […]

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Have you ever been in this situation?  You’ve got to fire an employee.  He simply can’t cut it.  You’ve tried to work with him.  You’ve given him coaching, counseling.  You should’ve fired him some time ago.  He’s not only doing a poor job.  Now, he’s hurting morale.  You’ve simply got to fire him.
But you don’t […]

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Blackwater Worldwide has been in the news for a long time now.  Hired by the U.S. Government to do various contracting work in Iraq, it’s been under investigation for all sorts of things.  Congress has just announced something else Blackwater is being investigated for: treating employees as independent contractors.
I don’t know what this investigation will show, but […]

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It’s common for those interviewing a job candidate to take notes during the interview.  They are made on the employment application, the resume, or some other document kept in connection with the interview.
Make sure the notes are job related.  They deal with the candidate’s experience.   They deal with his/her skills for the job in question.  […]

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