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The Employer Handbook Blog
Articles Posted in Hiring & Firing
“Surprise! There’s a Skeleton in Your Candidate’s Closet!”
Image by Paul Brennan from Pixabay
A few weeks ago, the great folks at ERE Media invited me to speak at the ERE Recruiting Conference in Washington, DC about what happens when you learn that one of your recruits has done something on social media that doesn’t mesh well with the culture of the company.
No, diversity and inclusion do not mean rounding out the team by hiring someone who posts her Halloween blackface photos on Instagram. Continue reading
Sexy Mister Rogers and the rest of your last-minute ‘what not to wear to work tomorrow’ checklist.
Petar Milošević [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Yes, you can be fired for sharing Elmo poop memes. It’s another lesson on at-will employment.
Image Credit: Cody Hidalgo on Facebook
A Michigan man claims he “legit got fired” for posting a Sesame Street Elmo ‘poop’ meme on Facebook on a Sunday when he wasn’t at work. (h/t The Daily Dot and Unilad)
I suppose that’s kinda … wait for it … sh*tty.
PODCAST: How to Treat Employees Like Humans – Even When You’re Firing Them
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
About a month ago, I shared a podcast from my FisherBroyles, LLP employment law partner, Jessica Brown Wilson, where she addressed how to create a sexual harassment policy.
Now, she’s back. Continue reading
Looking for HR information on conducting workplace investigations? You’ve hit the MOTHERLODE!
Image Credit: Photofunia.com (https://photofunia.com/results/5da05f89089f7acb5a8b4590)
Back in the early Summer of 2017, most of the experts — the pundits, if you will — were predicting that American businesses were not going to spend as much in 2018 on advice from employment law attorneys.
Then, in September 2017, along came a guy named Harvey Weinstein. Continue reading
An employer trolled a job candidate’s bikini photo on Instagram and it backfired HORRIBLY
Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
Many of you have Googled or otherwise searched for a job candidate online before extending an official offer. I imagine that there were times that you found something objectionable that caused you to reconsider the offer.
But, how many of you have actually gone so far as to publicize your selection process on social media and shame the candidate? Continue reading
If one of your employees wears this to work, tell that person to GTHO!
Image Credit: @bstroy.us on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/bstroy.us/)
On Monday, I blogged (here) about a manager who commented on the hands of a female employee who had suffered severe nerve damages to them after a car accident. He called her hands “disgusting.”
It didn’t end well for the employer. Continue reading
Get your damn story straight if you’re going to fire someone who just returned from medical leave.
Image by DigitalShards from Pixabay
I’ve talked a fair amount recently about retaliation claims (here and here), mostly focusing on timing as the possible link between a protected activity (such as a complaint of discrimination) and an adverse employment action (like a firing).
The plaintiffs in those cases were unsuccessful in proving retaliation. And, in the case about which I’m blogging today, the employer almost prevailed on summary judgment too.
Almost. Continue reading
How many of you would risk the retaliation claim here? (I would)
Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay
You’ve been here before.
One of your employees just complained about discrimination in the workplace. Or maybe s/he just participated in an HR investigation. A few days or weeks later, s/he violates your work rules and you have clear grounds to fire the employee.
Now you have a conundrum. Do you fire the employee and risk the retaliation claim? Or do you give the employee a pass?
Continue reading