No, you don’t need to offer an alternative day off. There are no federal laws requiring private employers to provide paid time off for holidays. However, there are potential benefits to offering an alternative day off: * It can boost employee morale. Employees won’t feel that they “lost” a day off – and three-day weekends […]
Category: HR Q&A
Q&A: Can We Reduce the Number of Hours an Employee Works?
Yes. Absent an employment contract or other legally binding agreement, you can reduce an employee’s work hours—there is no law that prevents this. Hours are typically reduced for reasons such as a decrease in business needs, the company’s productivity has decreased, job restructuring, or reorganization. It’s important, however, to make scheduling decisions in a manner […]
Q&A: Do Employees Need to Sign a New Handbook with Each Change?
No. For small, minor updates, you don’t need employees to sign off, especially if you simply made an administrative change like updating the name of your employee assistance program provider, correcting a typo, or adding a clarifying statement. A simple communication to all employees to let them know that the change has been made, why, […]
Q&A: What is the Best Practice for Conducting Employment References?
Reference checks help you verify the employment information candidates provide, but they aren’t required, so it’s up to you whether you want to do them. Here are some practices we recommend if you do choose to conduct reference checks: * Get permission from candidates to contact references. This should be part of the application process […]
Q&A: Can We Include Hair Color in Our Dress Code?
Yes. Non-natural hair color is not a protected characteristic. Even so, there are a few things you may want to consider before making a policy about this: “Extreme” hair colors are becoming more and more common, so restricting colors may dampen employee morale or limit your applicant pool. You may need to provide exceptions for […]
Q&A: Should New Employees Get an Introductory Period?
No. Some employers call the first few weeks or months of an employee’s time with the company an introductory period, but this designation has no bearing on the rights employers or employees have. An introductory period doesn’t reduce the risks of termination (you should still have a good business reason and documentation) or mean that […]
Q&A: Exempt Employee Taking Long Lunches
You can deduct hours from this exempt employee’s PTO bank for time she was scheduled to work but didn’t work, but if it wasn’t made clear that you expected her to follow a set schedule, you’d only want to do this going forward. However, we’d suggest considering a different approach. First, speak to her about […]
Q&A: Can We Ask Employees About Food Allergies?
No. However, employees who do have food allergies or restrictions would likely appreciate it if you made sure that they also get to partake of the free food. You can manage this by asking employees about food preferences or prohibitions ahead of time, ordering a variety of items so that everyone has at least one […]
Q&A: What is pay transparency, and how does it help employers?
Pay transparency refers to sharing information about pay with applicants, employees, and possibly the entire world. While some states and localities require that employers include a pay range with job postings, many employers now choose to do this on their own to stay competitive. But pay transparency can be taken much further. Employers that really […]
Q&A: Can We Tell Our Employees Not to Check Messages After Hours?
Yes, you can tell nonexempt employees that they shouldn’t read or respond to messages when they’re not scheduled to be working. When communicating your expectations, it may be beneficial to investigate why these employees are checking email and messages outside their scheduled hours. How you handle the issue may depend on what’s driving it. Employees […]