"HR Hotline, how may I help you?" Your top 10 queries revealed.
Published March 30, 2012 3:43 PM
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Updated April 2, 2012 6:19 PM
1 Min Read
No. 1: Queries about the Family and Medical Leave Act
Who is covered? What is deemed a serious health condition? How to control intermittent leave? ERA has heard it all, and reveals FMLA is the most asked-about topic for the second straight year.
No. 2: Advice and counsel on adverse actions like termination, suspension and discipline
A close second to FMLA questions, commonly requested information includes: What documentation is needed to fire someone? Does a recent workers compensation claim or FMLA request affect that decision? Can an employee sue for termination?
No. 3: Performance management strategies
Strategies for dealing with a problem employee such as: Is it safe to ramp up the heat on a new hire that may not be working out or on a protected-class employee that isnt responding to counseling? Also, group performance issues concurrent with culture changes or business cycle needs.
No. 4: Fair Labor Standards Act issues
Common queries include: How do we correctly classifying a position as exempt? How do we calculate overtime for multiple rates? What travel hours must be paid for an hourly employee? What are federal and state child labor rules? How much time can we ignore at clock-in or out? Can we round?
No. 5: Questions about immigration policies
Many questions arise regarding I-9 documentation and procedural questions. Such as: What do we do when a Social Security Number comes back a no-match? An applicant has a matching SSN and ID, but we know it is not his; what can we do? Were considering employing an H1-B employee: How complicated is that?
No. 6: Lunch hour and breaks
Common examples: Is a lunch period required? What has to be paid versus non-paid time? Can an employee work through break and leave early?
No. 7: Employee access to personnel files
Does the law require us to allow an employee to see or copy his file? What are the pros and cons of allowing it versus not? We just got a letter from an attorney requesting files; do we have to send them the files? We have employees in a few other states; are the rules different there?
No. 8: Independent contractor vs. employee?
According to ERA, hotline operators routinely get asked: Whats the difference between an independent contractor and an employee? Why cant I just pay this person as a contractor and issue a 1099? What constitutes a legal independent contractor status? Who makes the rules?
No. 9: Questions about employee privacy
Lots of Is it legal? queries on this topic, including: Can we read employee emails or monitor Internet usage? What about the use of surveillance cameras? Can we search employees, their workspace, belongings or cars? Can we use GPS technology to monitor our employees? What about employees that use company provided smartphones?
No. 10: How to address drug and alcohol issues
Under what conditions can employees be tested? If an employee tests positive, can we discharge him? How can a drug test procedure be set-up? What should be in the policy?
