Better parental leave or you better believe parents leave

March 18th, 2019 by Jake Rubenstein at Cozen O'Connor

Which comes first, the parent or the leave?

Jake Rubenstein summarizes five cutting-edge parental leave benefits you can use to attract top talent in a job market with historically low unemployment. Because if you aren't offering them, maybe your competitors are. And you know what that means:

Parents leave.

Religious holidays - what to do, how to do it and a calendar

March 13th, 2019 by Valerie Ferrier at FordHarrison

For those of you who know the holidays and where they fall on the calendar for nine, yes 9, different religions, please move on to your celebration of Ken Day (as in Barbie, and did you know his last name is Carson?) or Earmuff Day or National Coconut Torte Day.

For the rest of us, please click through so Valerie Ferrier can help and FordHarrison can send you the calendar.

And just in case you also want a daily wall calendar of non-religious, slightly unique holidays (not nearly as helpful as Valerie's calendar, but how embarrassing to miss National Baked Scallops Day – which was yesterday).

If Saint Valentine had a workplace romance policy what would it be

February 13th, 2019 by Emily Reber at Troutman Sanders

Workplace relationships don't work, at least for the workplace.

But they are going to happen anyway, so Emily Reber provides some policy options: prohibiting, discouraging and requiring disclosure (love contracts).

Workplace romance red (heart-shaped) flags

February 12th, 2019 by Emily Fullerton at Schwabe

Workplace romance - flirting, unwanted gifts, and scheduling someone just because they are single, unmarried or childless - can cause problems for managers, supervisors and employees. Emily Fullerton helps you keep Cupid, and lawsuits, at bay whether it is Valentine's Day or not.

Calling Dr. Love(less) again

February 11th, 2019 by Robin Shea at Constangy

Last year around the holiday of hearts we featured a guest post from Dr. Love(less) via our friend Robin Shea. In addition to a link to last years good advice, his year the good Dr. tackles:

• Huggie Bear concern about full-body "front hugs" and potential sexual harassment claims
• Skeptical questioning the veracity of the Dr.'s cred
• Heartsick hoping for good news concerning the shortage of Sweathearts valentine hearts candy
• Jezebel wondering about her rights because her bosses wife found out and is insisting he fire her
• Office Gossip wondering if it would be retaliation if the boss fires her if he finds out she is the one who ratted Jezebel out
• I Am An Idiot seeking confirmation that it is A-OK for him (35 year-old manager) to date her (16 year-old employee) because "she is cute as a button and quite the flirt".

Gender identity in the workplace

February 5th, 2019 by James Patton at Ogletree Deakins

If an employee or applicant identifies themselves as a gender that may not be "visible to others" or as non-binary (not identifying as male or female):

• are they protected from being discriminated against?
• for purposes of EEOC reports or OFCCP data, do you have to choose a gender for them?
• do you have to tell the employee that you did?
• can you ask them to prove their gender identity?

James Patton provides some answers, FAQs, training resources and technical assistance links,

Workplace recordings can sound like a lawsuit

February 4th, 2019 by Christopher Alvarez and Crystal Trotter from Fisher Phillips

Whether you or an employee are recording in the workplace, there are rules and questions and additional complexatories to be addressed, including:

• is the recording secret?
• are secret recordings worth it?
• can I prohibit recording?
• do I need a policy?
• what about the NLRA?

Think of Christopher Alvarez and Crystal Trotter as your hearing aides.

Super Bowl LIII legal betting and Super Sick Monday

February 1st, 2019 by Steven Silver at Ogletree Deakins

It only took LIII years to find the Amendment that would allow betting on the Super Bowl legal outside of Las Vegas.

But does that mean office pools are now legal?

And should the Monday after the Super Bowl be a national holiday?

Steven Silver has all of the answers, including to Roger Goodell's recent proposal that every fan in attendance at this year's Super Bowl be issued a challenge flag.

Happy employees remain happy and employees

January 29th, 2019 by Jeremy Glenn at Cozen O'Connor

Jeremy Glenn provides six steps to higher employee satisfaction and lower risk of outside intervention (government agencies, unions, poaching employers).

Super Bowl LIII and getting fired from your G.O.A.T.

January 28th, 2019 by Katie Basch at Kastner Westman & Wilkins

Whether getting your goat means making someone angry or getting your G.O.A.T. means choosing Tom Brady as the Greatest of All Time, it can create issues in the workplace. So yes, your opinion and how you express it – belittling, harassing, verbally abusing, bullying – CAN get you fired.

Katie Basch provides some examples, a Cleveland Browns quiz, a couple recommendations, some good background material on bullying in the workplace, and several G.O.A.T. references.

How to Address an Unflattering Video of an Employee

January 25th, 2019 by Robin Shea at Constangy

If it hasn't happened yet, there is a good chance that one of your employees will show up in a posted video in a less than flattering light, and that light is going to reflect on your company.

Days past, you would have taken the video at face value and determined disciplinary actions, maybe even termination, based solely on the video.

Knee-jerk doesn't work any more. Maybe now it is KnoW-jerk, as in know the employee is no jerk. And video, especially just a snippet, doesn't always tell the whole story.

Robin Shea helps you address the situation with a PR statement you should keep close at hand.

Super Bowl 2019 at the Office

January 24th, 2019 by Fisher Phillips

The Super Bowl is near, which means so are some workplace issues that you are going to be dealing with, regardless of your allegiance to team, half-time performer or just all of the food.

Fisher Phillips helps you with your HR game plan so you aren't depending on your two-minute drill or just tossing a Hail Mary, covering:

• gambling in the workplace
• productivity
• dress codes
• attendance/absences

Regular and Reliable Attendance

January 22nd, 2019 by Shawe Rosenthal

Nines months off, last chance agreement, termination, a "qualified" person, termination, on-site presence, "absences are with the employer's permission", termination, no medical verification, termination, termination, and termination.

What more do you want out of the ADA?

Protecting Trade Secrets when Terminating Employees

January 21st, 2019 by Stan Hill at Polsinelli

They are called secrets for a reason, and if you want to keep them so, Stan Hill has four tips for you:

1. Cut the cord, but not too soon
2. Remind the employee about confidentiality
3. Gather devices
4. $ incentives?

RIFs are NOT a cure all for bad performance management

January 18th, 2019 by Fiona Ong at Shawe Rosenthal

Some employers view a reduction in force as an apparently easy and clean way to get rid of employees they do not want – like poor performers, who have not been properly performance-managed.

Don't be one of those employers.

Fiona Ong shares why. And stay tuned, same Bat-time, same Bat-station (or at least Bat-blog), for some "what" and "how" when Fiona shares basic performance management tips so you won't be one of those employers.