The results are in, and it’s official! Working America, a community affiliate of the AFL-CIO, holds a contest every year in which people tell their bad-boss stories. The three best (worst?) get published. Take a look at the winners. Sound like anyone you know?

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: AFL-CIO, Working America, worst bosses

Sad to say, most charges of sexual harassment grow out of some common misunderstandings about what the danger signs are. Time and time again,  supervisors use those misunderstandings as a defense — and companies pay for it.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: court, sexual harassment, Supervisors

You can twist yourself in knots trying to dodge a lawsuit, but it really comes down to the avoiding the Big Six Mistakes.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: at will, eeoc, equal employment opportunity commission, investigations, Moody & Warner, performance

A new federal court ruling warns some employers that there’s no more “open season” on accessing employees’ e-mail.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: e-mail, SCA, stored communications act

Most companies have policies about employees’ access to the Internet and use of electronic devices. The dirty little secret is that most of those policies don’t work.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: data security, internet, privacy, privacy and data security law journal, Web

Everyone gossips, so to try to set up your workplace as a “no-gossip zone” is largely a waste of time. You can draw a line, however, on what’s OK and what’s not.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: firing, gossip, lawsuit, layoff, slander

In this real-life case, a supervisor got fired for violating the company policy on dating subordinates. He sued the company, claiming invasion of privacy. Who won?

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: court, dating, privacy, Supervisors

Our team of experts fields real-life, everyday questions from HR managers and gives practical answers that can be applied by any HR pro in the same situation. Today: 1. The legality of using pay cuts as discipline and 2. the value of 900 numbers for reference checks.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 900 numbers, cba, Discipline, References

A supervisor fires an employee who indirectly threatened a co-worker. Did a judge in this actual case agree that the termination was unfair?

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: complaints, policy, termination, violence

In this real-life case, two employees have a spat. One gets revenge by “outing” the other to co-workers as a lesbian, and gets fired. Did a court uphold the firing?

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: firing, lesbian, outed, sexual harassment, termination