What Employers Should Know About Trauma in the Workplace

2008 was a difficult year. The Great Recession was underway. People lived in a constant state of worry. In workplaces across the country, employees informally gathered after official meetings, trying to decipher what their leaders had shared and what information...

Having Trouble Hiring? Consider Recruiting High School Students

Each fall, kids return to school with clean notebooks, sharpened pencils, and the excitement of starting something new. For those students in high school, many are also on the lookout for a job, whether for some extra spending money, for a class requirement, to find...

HR’s Role in a Recession

The prospect of a recession has many businesses and their employees worried. During an extended economic decline, sales drop, jobs disappear, and productivity decreases. Companies have less revenue to invest, and their customers have less money to spend. With their...

USERRA and Form I-9 Updates

It’s feast or famine with federal employment law news, and this month, we are well fed! USERRA Expanded to Protect FEMA Workers The federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), which applies to employers of all sizes, has been expanded...

Federal Law Alert: Voting Leave Compliance

Election Day is almost here, so as an employer, now is a good time to brush up on voting leave laws. Most states require that employers provide at least a few hours off to vote, and many of those require at least some of that time off to be paid. The advance notice...

Can we cut a performance improvement plan short if the employee’s performance issues have gotten substantially worse?

Answer from Janelle, SHRM-CP, SHRM-PMQ: In general, yes. When an employee is on a performance improvement plan (PIP), and their performance has not improved and has, in fact, gotten worse, it is perfectly reasonable to cut the timeframe of the PIP short and move...