While there is no federal requirement regarding employee rest breaks, many states do have laws governing workplace breaks and meal periods. To avoid violating specific state or municipal laws, you should reference the U.S. Department of Labor's website.
For those states that do not have specific laws governing meal periods, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FSLA) states that if employers choose to provide employees with rest periods, they must be paid. In addition, if employers grant employees a meal break, they, too, must be paid, unless the break qualifies as a bona fide meal period. As always, when the state laws differ from the FLSA, the employer is required to comply with the standards that provide employees the greatest benefit.
Affinity HR Group is BSCAI's endorsed HR partner, providing HR support, recruiting and employee engagement services. For a link to our menu of services for BSCAI members, go to www.AffinityHRGroup.com/BSCAI
Can an employer discipline an employee for posting disparaging comments about the company on social media if the post was created on personal time? First, if you don’t already have one, you need a social networking policy, which outlines what employees can and cannot do with the Internet and social networking sites in relation to their job. The law in this area is quickly changing and employer rights are not so clear. You may want to seek help from an attorney or HR consultant to help you draft a policy or help you in interpreting your rights as an employer. And if you are considering disciplining or terminating an employee, it is strongly recommended that you seek counsel before doing so.
Behavioral testing during the hiring process is highly recommended but only under the following circumstances. First, you have to treat all of your candidates/employees similarly. For example, if you are hiring five new salespeople and you only test one, that can be problematic. Second, you should be sure to use a test that has construct and content validity – meaning they test what they say they are going to test and they don’t adversely impact any non-minority population. You can ask about validity and adverse impact results of any reputable testing company. Affinity HR Group highly recommends TTI’s TriMetrix HD Assessment.
Should businesses allow co-workers to date? Statistics show that 25 percent of workers have consensual relationships with a boss or co-worker, and 15 percent of employee romances end in marriage.
Affinity HR recommends a Fraternization Policy, which each party should sign, specifying that: 1) the relationship is consensual; 2) relationships between manager-subordinates are prohibited under all circumstances; 3) the company is released from any and all claims of liability should the relationship head south; and 4) what behaviors are appropriate and which are unacceptable.
Given the reality of romance at work and the possibility of relationships souring at some time, a solid Fraternization Policy is always a good idea.
Have you ever had a power cord that was badly kinked? Missing a ground on the plug, or even torn? This can create a safety hazard and costly replacements that can take you by surprise. The best way to avoid this is to make sure that your operators unplug the machine before rewinding; and then rewind the cord from the machine side to the unplugged end of the untethered cord. This will ensure that the stress is taken out of the cord while winding and wrapping back to the machine itself. Most manufacturers provide a cord wrap feature that encourage this behavior.
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