We have an exempt employee who has been taking a lot of long lunches and my boss wants to deduct time from her paid time off (PTO) bank. Can we dock her PTO for taking a long lunch?

by | Oct 23, 2023 | Human Resources, Time & Attendance

Answered by the HR Experts 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...

Do we need to conduct an investigation if one of our employees has accused another employee of harassment at a non-work event?

by | Oct 23, 2023 | Harassment, Human Resources

Answered by the HR Experts: Absolutely. It is important to remember that not all interactions between employees take place at work, and these non-work interactions can ultimately affect the workplace, potentially contributing to a hostile work environment. For...

Can we tell nonexempt employees not to check email and messages when they’re supposed to be off the clock? They’ve been doing this a lot, and we don’t want to have to continue paying them for this additional, unscheduled time.

by | Sep 7, 2023 | Human Resources, Uncategorized

Answered by the HR Experts: 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...

What is intermittent leave under the FMLA, and when can employees use it?

by | Aug 25, 2023 | Human Resources

Answered by the HR Experts Under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), intermittent leave is leave taken in multiple blocks of time, each less than the employee’s full FMLA entitlement, for the same ongoing reason. Examples of intermittent leave include an employee...

What is the interactive process?

by | Aug 11, 2023 | Human Resources

Answer from Janelle, SHRM-CP, SHRM-PMQ: The interactive process is a term most often associated with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a federal law that requires organizations with 15 or more employees to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified...

What is PCORI filing?

by | Aug 2, 2023 | Business Tips, Human Resources

Answer from Angela, CIC, CISR, SHRM-CP : The Affordable Care Act (ACA) created the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to study clinical effectiveness and health outcomes. To finance the institute’s work, a small annual fee—commonly called the PCORI...