Articles by Devora Lindeman

It is no surprise that many people spend more time at work than engaged in any other activity.  It’s no wonder that workplace romances sprout—often bringing grief to HR Managers.  In an attempt to curb potential sexual harassment claims, workplace romance policies are instituted sometimes going as far as forbidding office mates from falling in love.  As I’m sure...Full Article »

Knowledge and information is HR’s commodity.  With one of HR’s responsibilities being compliance with the myriad U.S. employment laws that apply to your company, knowledge of those laws, and the actions your company needs to take to be in compliance and avoid law suites, is HR’s stock in trade.  As an employment lawyer, I recognize that often the “powers that...Full Article »

I know we’re all busy, but HR managers really need to train their managers on human resources basics. Take this sick-leave situation which demonstrates the type of scenarios I’ve had to deal with regularly—a real comedy of errors when they are all strung together. First, a manger fails to report an employee calling in sick day after day for a week.  In the manager’s...Full Article »

Many companies unnecessarily use employment contracts with all their employees.  Instead of these documents providing specific legal protections for the company (the very reason to utilize a contract), many documents I see in my practice are often trying to be something they are not and are more of a hassle for the employer in the long run.  Take away?  Unless the new hire is a...Full Article »

“Management training” is a hot topic among human resources professionals. They know it should be done—must be done—but convincing key executives is sometimes a challenge. Here is a scenario based on a real situation (names changed, of course) that shows why it is key for training managers to oversee the performance of their direct reports and coordinate with human...Full Article »

Most HR Managers know that employers are obligated to provide reasonable accommodations for an employee’s religious practices—but do your managers actually go through the necessary conversations the law obligates you to have?  Let’s walk through a potential situation and see how it might go: Let’s say that Sari, a sandwich preparer at your deli who works within the...Full Article »

If your U.S. company does not have a unionized workforce, you may think that Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) has nothing to do with you.  Guess again.  Section 7 protects the rights of all employees (unionized or not) to engage in what is called “concerted protected activity.”  And that probably means a lot more than you might think....Full Article »

In an unprecedented move, the SEC (yes, that would be the Securities and Exchange Commission) has shown interest in investigating the hiring practices of a U.S. food chain—the Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurant chain.  Although we’ve seen agreements recently between the Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service where they are working together to combat...Full Article »

The position recently taken by the U.S. EEOC (“Equal Employment Opportunity Commission”) regarding employers’ use of criminal convictions in the hiring process is not new.   The EEOC has recognized for years that arrest and conviction rates in the U.S. are higher for minorities than they are for whites—and that when employers fail to hire applicants because of...Full Article »

Telecommuting could seem like a win-win situation for employers and employees, especially with the price of gasoline.  However, there are a few pitfalls HR managers should watch out for when company managers suggest (or employees request) telecommuting: (1)   How do you know when the employee is working?  As with any position, especially one that is not exempt from the...Full Article »

Apparently, in response to the legal cases reprimanding employers for improperly obtaining access to their employees’ and applicants’ personal social media sites, employers came up with what would seem to be a very effective work-around—demanding the passwords or threatening termination or cessation of the application process.  Really? Although social media can be a...Full Article »