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Turning Conflict into Collaboration

by Linda Gravett, PhD, SPHR Did you wake up this morning thinking, “Gee, I hope I get into an argument today” or “I hope somebody seeks me out for a confrontation”?  Probably not.  We typically do everything we can to avoid conflict, perhaps because past experiences have been unpleasant or we don’t know how to respond to confrontations.  In this […]

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Total Rewards Statements

Question: I’ve always heard that Total Rewards Statements were a great tool to provide to employees the ones I have seen seem very difficult to understand.  How can I provide a Total Reward Statement that is valuable, easy to understand, and will help my employees truly understand what their total compensation is? Answer: While knocking […]

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The Pros and Cons of Using a “Release” During a Termination Case

Question: What are the pros and cons of using a “release” during a termination case? Answer: Many companies assume that an employee termination automatically means offering the employee severance pay and a separation agreement with a release of claims to avoid a potential employee lawsuit.  There are certainly advantages to the use of separation agreements […]

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When To Complete an I9 for a Rehired Employee?

Question:   We are starting to gear up for seasonal hiring for the summer.  If I rehire seasonal workers from last year, do I need to have them complete a new I9 form? Answer:   According to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, if an employee is rehired within three (3) years of the […]

What is a powered industrial truck according to OSHA? Do you need proper training?

Question: Our Warehouse Manager just got a new piece of equipment that I would describe as a type of pallet-jack. When I questioned him about training on the equipment, he said that because an employee does not sit on the piece of equipment to operate it, so there was no required training under OSHA. Is that true? […]

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Managers Maintaining Personnel Files

Question: One of our Department Managers wants to keep his own set of personnel files for his employees at his desk. Is there a legal reason for him not to do this? Answer: There is no law forbidding your manager from maintaining separate personnel files (i.e., “desk files”) for their employees. However, there are many […]

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The recommendations and opinions provided by Strategic HR and its staff are advisory only and are based on general human resource management fundamentals, practices and principles, and are not legal opinions or guaranteed outcomes. This information is provided with the understanding that the user assumes the risk of verifying information used from this site when interpreting it for their own use. We strongly recommend, as part of a team approach to management, that companies consult with their legal counsel to address specific legal concerns related to human resource issues.