Here’s the typical dangerous scenario:

Two employees have company-issued cell phones. One employee uses the company phone to send harassing text messages to the other employee’s company-issued phone. The receiving employee files a harassment complaint.

What’s the employer’s responsibility?

The various state laws indicate that electronic messages, such as e-mail, are considered evidence in harassment cases, and must be retained by the employer — to support or refute the charge. Following that ruling, most legal observers agree the term “electronic messages” also covers text messages, meaning an employer could be responsible for storing and producing such messages when they go from company phone to company phone.

That’s another headache no employer or HR department needs, so what’s the solution? Ban texting altogether? That seems extreme and impractical, althought least one employer in Florida has done that.

But the more practical option is to develop a policy about employee-to-employee texting, especially during work hours. Employees should understand, via the policy, that such texting should be done only as a business necessity, and that employees will be held responsible for offensive or harassing text messaages.

Accessibility problems can stir up legal trouble, as well as limit the field of applicants available for open positions. To avoid those problems, talk with your IT department to see if your company’s recruiting site follows these guidelines laid out by the Job Accommodation Network:

1. Use text descriptions for images – Hold your mouse cursor over an image on your site, and a block of text should appear. That’s what special screen reader software used by the visually impaired will read to the viewer. Make sure the text is something descriptive and concise.
2. Caption audio and video – If your site includes audio or files, it should offer the option of a written transcript or closed captioning. Audio descriptions of video files should also be provided, if necessary.
3. Minimize reliance on color – View the site in a black and white display to make sure everything is clear to color blind viewers. Also, avoid using just color to convey information. For example, if an applicant skips a section of a form, don’t just highlight that area in red — also include text that says “required field.”
4. Allow easy keyboard navigation – Some viewers may need to navigate the site using only their keyboard. Therefore, it should be easy to scroll through links and fill out forms using the TAB key.
5. Give more options for applying – Forms may be difficult for some people to complete, so allow them to apply through e-mail, fax, mail or over the telephone. Also, include an easy-to-find EEO statement that also provides contact info to get help applying.

ICs generally mean a good deal for employers, including savings on:

• federal and state income tax withholdings,
• unemployment insurance
• workers compensation
• benefits,
• overtime, vacation and sick pay, and
• no union eligibility.

A budget-squeezed employer has to love the idea. Here’s the problem: Federal and state governments are getting squeezed, too, in today’s economy, and they see questionable use of ICs as one of the sources of the squeeze, since the practice generally results in lower tax revenue.

One study by the General Accountability Office, says misuse of ICs lowers income tax revenues by about $4.7 billion annually. And the  University of Missouri–Kansas City Department of Economics estimates that from 2001 through 2005, Illinois lost $124.7 million a year in income taxes as a result of IC misclassification by employers.

You probably can figure out what’s coming.

In August, Congress began reviewing several bills that tighten restrictions on the use of ICs and exact tougher penalties on employers who bend the rules.

Further, states such as Illinois, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey and New Mexico already have enacted new laws targeting IC misclassification. The IRS recently announced plans to audit more than 6,000 randomly selected businesses in the next three years to, among other goals, curtail IC abuse and its effect on tax revenues.

That’s a double-whammy, since state and federal governments share info on violations: Get caught by one and you’ll probably pay both.

Here are tips from the book “It’s Never Too Late to Be What You Might Have Been,” by BJ Gallagher:

Giving

• Provide examples of the problem behavior.  For instance, “You shouted at two customers yesterday.” That’s better than “You have a bad attitude with customers.”
• Solicit questions and comments.  Be wary of the employee who broods quietly. That’s often a sign of resentment, not acceptance.  Ask leading questions that draw the employee out and give you some clues to the employee’s thinking. Example: “Tell me what you disagree with and why.”
• Get a commitment to change.  And try to put that commitment in measurable terms. Example: “So, you agree that you’ll be on time every day for the next month.”
• Schedule follow-up. Make it clear that this isn’t a one-and-done deal — that you’ll be checking back to see that there’s been a change and all commitments have been met.

Receiving

• Ask for or acknowledge examples. If the boss says, “I hear you’ve missed a few deadlines lately,” either ask for specifics or acknowledge that, yes, you’re guilty as charged.
• Ask for a chance to do better. Outline what you’re going to do to improve and when you’d like the boss to revisit your performance.
• Say “thanks.” Look at it this way: Negative feedback is a sign that someone cares and is interested in your improvement. Yes, there do seem to be those times when the feedback seems pointless. Still, a thank you is in order.

According to one study cited in the Harvard Business Review, men tend to be equal opportunity bullies — targeting men and women about equally. Not so with women, who target other women in more than seven out of every 10 instances.

Some other findings:

• Instances of verbal abuse are more commonly committed by men (57%) than women (41%), but
• Women (54%) are more likely than men (41%) to engage in more subtle forms of bullying, such as sabotaging another’s work, and
• Women (50%) are more likely than men (45%) to abuse their authority over subordinates.

The study goes on to issue a warning to HR managers: Left unchecked, bullying becomes the norm as a business culture. That is, managers and subordinates begin to think of bullying as a standard way of doing business. And in such environments, productivity invariably goes down and turnover goes up.

As reported on  law.com, Edward Harrington Heyburn worked at the firm of Levinson Axelrod until he was fired in 2004. Let’s start by saying the parting was not amicable.

Heyburn started a Web site — http://levinsonaxelrod.net — dedicated to trashing his former employer. The site contains detailed stories of underhanded dealings by the firm and:

• calls  senior partner Richard Levinson “The Hypocrite Behind the Curtain”
• refers to another partner, David Wheaton, as a “used-car salesman with a law degree”
• describes firm bigwig Adam Rothenberg as “a man without friends”

The firm has hired another lawyer, Thomas Cafferty, to take legal action against Heyburn.

More of Heyburn’s allegations about Levinson Axelrod:

• Demands by the firm that Heyburn and others place the good of the firm ahead of family obligations, “including the birth of my son,” Heyburn wrote
• A refusal to close the firm’s New Jersey offices on on Sep. 11, 2001,  to allow employees to check on their loved ones and friends and cope with the day’s events

It goes on from there, including criticism of the firm’s lawyers who lost big cases.

So, what we have here is a legal firm hiring a lawyer to sue a lawyer who hates lawyers . Maybe that means they’ll leave the rest of us alone for a while.

IRS regs say Payroll must remind employees by 12/1/09 to file an amended Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate, if their filing status, exemption allowances or exempt status has changed since they last filed the form. A simple e-mail or paycheck stuffer will do the job. [IRS Regulations Section 31-3402(f)(2)-(1)(c)(3).]

For the procrastinators, there’s a grace period. Exemptions for 2009 don’t expire until 2/15/10. That means, though, that anyone who claimed “exempt” on the W-4 last year but didn’t provide an updated W-4 must be withheld from at the single marital status with zero withholding allowances, starting on 2/16/10. Changing the withholding is usually enough to get an employee’s attention – and have the person provide a new form, pronto.

To cut down on the number of employee questions, it may be useful to provide a copy of Publication 919, How Do I Adjust My Tax Withholding? That’ll help them decide whether the amount they’re having withheld compares to their projected total for the year. This will be especially important for those with earnings exceeding $130,000 (single) or $180,000 (married), so they can make sure they’re not underwithheld.

Note that employees can’t claim exempt if:

• Their income exceeds $950 and includes more than $300 of unearned income (e.g., interest, dividends), and

• Another person can claim them as a dependent on his or her tax return.

While it’s not Payroll’s job to police who claims exempt and who doesn’t, you may keep some people out of trouble with IRS if they’re aware of the guidelines.

Berry said, in testimony before Congress, that extending benefit coverage would ensure the federal government remains competitive with the private sector in employee hiring.

He pointed out that most Fortune 500 companies, 22 states and more than 150 local governments already extend such benefits.

If approved — called the “Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act of 2009″ — would cost taxpayers $56 million a year, or about 0.2% of the entire cost of the government’s federal employee health insurance.

Estimates show same-sex benefits cost an average of 0.5% of a company’s total spent on employee health care.

The facts:

An employee who was being treated for cancer suffered from dry mouth and throat as a side effect of the treatment, and had to consume large amounts of water throughout the day to combat the side effect.

As a result, she asked for two disability accommodations:

• Relaxing of a rule that prohibited drinks of any kind at workstations.
• Permission to leave the workstation often, and without asking, because of a frequent need to use the restroom.

She was granted both accommodations, and worked under those conditions for several months without incident except for one time:  A substitute boss who hadn’t been informed of the employee’s condition refused to all the employee to leave the workstation during an especially busy period. The employee wet her pants.

The employee sued for denial of a disability accommodation.

The employee said:
The temporary supervisor’s blunder caused extreme embarrassment, besides being an illegal breach of the agreement to grant her the accommodation.

The employer said:
The employee had worked under the accommodation conditions for several months without a hitch — in that the regular supervisor had never once denied the employee the accommodation. The incident in question was a simple mistake in communication, in that the temp supervisor wasn’t aware of the accommodation, and would have granted it had he been aware. Further, the employer maintained, the employee should have informed the boss of the accommodation or should have just left the workstation to use the restroom.

Who won the case?

Answer: The employee, who received $200,000 in damages from the employer.

Why: The court rejected the employer’s argument on two counts –

• The employee was under no obligation to inform the boss of the accommodation. The legal language for such an event is called continuing the “interactive process” — the back and forth between employee and supervisor to arrive at a reasonable accommodation. The court said the employee had already engaged in the interactive process and was under no obligation to continue it with another supervisor once the accommodation had been granted.
• Even a single incident of failure to accommodate can have more-than-trivial consequences. An employer must be vigilant about maintaining the accommodation at all times. In short, someone should have informed the temp supervisor about the situation.

Cite: A.M v. Albertsons LLC.

Consider that (a) the EFCA isn’t dead yet, (b) the White House is busy reorganizing the National Labor Relations Board to reflect the administration’s pro-labor stance and (c) labor leaders have set a goal of increasing union membership by 1.5 million a year for the next 15 years.

Those factors should lead to more vigilance about labor organizing.

Labor attorneys from the firm Fisher & Phillips say there are five major mistakes  complacent companies make that lead to union organizing:

1. Favoritism. It’s the No. 1 reason employees cite for joining a union. The term can mean a lot of things, but here’s what it amounts to:  inconsistent disciplinary action. When some employees feel they’ve been hit with discipline they didn’t deserve, while other employees got a break, expect to seen union sign-up cards floating around.

The solution is twofold: (a) clear policies and (b) managers who follow the policies. One without the other will lead to trouble.

2. Ignored complaints. A main union selling point is “giving employees a stronger voice.” Employees feel they need that voice when they perceive that no one is listening to them. The opposite of ignoring complaints: listening to them and acting on them. That doesn’t mean every complaint is valid, of course. Still, you have to give employees the feeling that at least someone is looking into it and taking some action if needed.

3. Lack of respect. Here’s the recipe for giving employees the idea they’re not respected: Disciplining them in front of others, assigning blame before reviewing the facts and  playing favorites. Those traits give employees the feeling that their managers are enemies, not advocates.

4. Lack of concern about safety. Another weak spot that unions probe: “Your employer only cares about making money, even if it puts you in danger.” The employers’ antidote: safety training, appropriate equipment and clear, uncomplicated guidelines and procedures for responding to and reporting workplace accidents. An extra gold star for employers: Willingness to help employees through the complicated workers-comp process.

5. Noncompetitive pay and benefits. Many are aware of the union promise to “put more money in workers’ pockets.” True or not, it attracts workers who feel they’re being shortchanged.

Now, that doesn’t mean opening up the wallet to every employee who complains about pay and benefits. What you can do:

• Participate in wage-benefit surveys where you can and make sure you are competitive in your industry and your location.
• Be prepared to explain why you’re not at the top of the scale, including the tradeoffs of the other nonmonetary advantages of working at your company — flexible schedules and so on — which employees may not always focus on.
• Be honest with your employees. For instance, if business is down, explain that as the reason for flat wages. The first place a union will attack is perceived dishonesty about pay and benefits.