What is the purpose of a performance improvement plan?

Answer from Emily, PHR: Ideally, a performance improvement plan helps employees meet performance expectations and avoid termination, but it also helps employers reduce the risk of a termination if that becomes necessary. In general, a performance improvement plan...

We’ve had a few employees come into work sick. Can we send them home or, in the future, tell them not to come in to work if they are sick?

Answer from Brody, PHR, SHRM-CP: Yes. Generally, you can send sick employees home early when they are visibly ill or there is objective concern for the spread of a contagious virus. We recommend you inform the employee, as well as your other employees, of your...

What sort of questions should we ask and avoid asking during a job interview?

Answer from Kyle, PHR: The questions you ask in a job interview should all be job-related and nondiscriminatory. You should avoid questions that are not job-related or that cause an applicant to tell you about their inclusion in a protected class. For example, if the...

Our busy season starts next month. Is there anything we can do to help our employees reduce their stress?

Answer from Jenny, SPHR, SHRM-SCP: There is! Here are a few things you can do to make the busy season run as smoothly and stress-free as possible: Remove or reassign non-essential work duties: Before the busy season begins, ask employees to make a list of tasks that...

We received a wage garnishment for child support that the employee doesn’t want us to follow. What should we do?

Answer from Laura, SHRM-CP: Valid wage garnishments need to be followed regardless of the affected employee’s feelings on the matter. In this case, you should go ahead and follow the instructions from the garnishing agency, withholding and sending them the...

Can we send employees home early because there isn’t any work to do?

Answer from Angela, SPHR: Yes, you can send employees home early due to a lack of work. Just keep in mind that exempt employees would need to be paid their entire salary for the day. Non-exempt employees would only need to be paid for actual hours worked, unless you...