For decades now, the hiring process has been the same: candidates apply, employers interview them, and the best one gets the job.

But in recent years it’s become apparent that interviews are starting to lose their effectiveness. Someone who interviews well isn’t necessarily going to be a great employee.

One in two hires fail

A lot of research points to problems with the interview. According to Leadership IQ, 50% of new hires fail within the first 18 months. HireVue found that some managers’ hiring choices only work out 20% of the time.

Google has gone as far to suggest that interviews are often no better than a coin flip, saying there’s no correlation between how well someone scored on an interview and their eventual job performance.

Gaming the system

So what specifically is wrong with interviews today? According to HR expert and professor John Sullivan, it’s our modernized job search process.

With all the online resources available to candidates, they can prepare for interviews in a way applicants couldn’t in the past. Websites like Glassdoor allow job seekers to see what their likely interview questions will be.

Here are the top reasons Sullivan says companies should rely less on interviews:

1. Candidates have canned answers at the ready. Since they’re able to study up on the interview questions ahead of time, it’s very likely candidates are giving you rehearsed answers. It’s like a student knowing the questions on an upcoming test in advance — the exam then loses its effectiveness.
2. Lying is easier to get away with. Many candidates have realized that little lies or exaggerations on their resumes will typically go unnoticed. Reference checks usually only involve confirming dates of employment and job title, leaving candidates some room to exaggerate what their responsibilities really were.
3. Employers disguise realities of the job. In a world focused on the candidate experience, many employers might try to spin what the job actually is in order to attract candidates. But by only highlighting the good aspects, employers practically guarantee the new hire will ultimately leave because the job isn’t what they thought it’d be.
4. Too much focus on cultural fit. Employers want a candidate who will fit in nicely with the rest of the team. But too much focus on this arbitrary factor reduces the value of the interview. Not to mention, managers could be passing over great candidates just because they do things differently.

Try these instead

The interview probably isn’t going away anytime soon, so here are tactics you can use in the meantime to make more successful hires.

1. Test cognitive abilities. Intelligence tests might seem unnecessary, but studies have shown mental ability is a great predictor of job success.
2. Evaluate skills. Along with an intelligence test, a skills test can help demonstrate if the candidate has the talent the job requires. This will help weed out a candidate who’s a great talker but doesn’t have the job skills to back up their claims.
3. See what your best employees are doing. To figure out what you’re looking for in a new hire, check out what your best people are currently doing. How did these employees perform on cognitive and skills tests? Their results can help you create a threshold for where candidates’ results should be.
4. Start hires out as temps if you can. Obviously, a great way to make a new hire is to test the person out in the role first. If you can, start a hire out as a temp and transition to permanent if they perform well.

The post A great interview doesn’t make a good hire: Here’s what does appeared first on HR Morning.

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Google has told its employees to cut out political debate and politics at work.

The company put out employee guidelines last week, according
to widely published news reports, informing staffers that “disrupting the
workday to have a raging debate over politics or the latest news story”
does not help build community.

Google always took pride in embracing free speech and open debates among employees. But that free-range approach is creating challenges. For instance, the tech giant found itself in the crosshairs of some prominent politicians accusing it of an anti-conservative bias, as well as some employees who said they were retaliated against for speaking out about equal treatment and equal opportunity.

Guidelines on politics at work

“Community guidelines exist to support the healthy and
open discussion that has always been a part of our culture. They help create an
environment where we can come together as a community in pursuit of our shared
mission and serve our users,” a Google spokeswoman told CNN Business.
“It’s critical that we honor that trust and uphold the integrity of our
products and services. The guidelines are official policy and apply when
employees are communicating in the workplace.”

Google first published community guidelines about a year ago
concerning how employees engaged with each other, specifying that trolling
online and name calling are not okay in the workplace.

The new guidelines take that a step further, noting
employees should not make “statements that insult, demean, or humiliate
(whether individually or by reference to groups) other employees, our extended
workforce, our business partners, or others (including public figures).”

The guidance also applies to internal channels, including
the company’s email listservs, where a lot of employee conversation takes
place.

Google is also seeking to cut back on employees making
“false or misleading statements about Google’s products or business that
could undermine trust in our products and the work that we do,” according
to its guidelines.

In addition to the new guidance, which was first sent in an
email by CEO Sundar Pichai to employees before it published online, the company
said there will be a new “central flagging tool” for employees to report
content that may not align with its guidelines. A new “community
management team” will then assess whether the content is in violation.

The post Google tells its employees to focus on work – not politics appeared first on HR Morning.

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Any HR pro would raise an eyebrow reading the broad outline of this FMLA abuse investigation.

An employee schedules a knee surgery, then postpones that procedure to have a different operation done to remove a tumor on his foot.

While he’s out on FMLA leave, an employee takes a vacation trip to Mexico. After he gets back, he lets the employer know he might soon request additional FMLA leave to have the postponed surgery on his knee.

Already annoyed about the possible follow-on leave request, the employer finds out about the vacation, investigates possible FMLA abuse and sees a video of the employee lifting luggage out of a car.

In spite of the employee’s argument that his activities on vacation complied with doctor’s orders, the employer fires him for FMLA abuse.

Took FMLA abuse case to court

Seem pretty clear cut? The employer thought so and decided not to settle when the employee sued for retaliatory termination under FMLA, ADA and Massachusetts discrimination law.

In the end, however, a jury heard a more detailed version of the story and awarded the fired employee more than a million dollars in damages.

Appeals went all the way to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, where judges upheld essentially all of the huge award. (DaPrato v. Massachusetts Water Resources Authority).

The court’s agreement with the original jury decision provides a valuable reminder that FMLA investigations and related employment decisions need to be thorough, carefully documented, and conducted calmly based on facts rather than emotion.

What the employer got wrong

Of course, employers have the right to terminate an FMLA abuser. And even if it gets to court, many organizations successfully fend off claims of interference and/or retaliation. 

So, why did this employer miss so badly in deciding that the employee had abused FMLA leave and deserved to be fired?

First of all, the employer got some basics wrong.

The HR director told the court that she believed that an employee out on FMLA could not take a vacation during their leave.

The court made it clear that there is no prohibition against someone recovering anywhere he or she wants to during medically-approved leave.

But, said the court, “an employer may validly consider an employee’s conduct on vacation—or, for that matter, anywhere—that is inconsistent with his or her claimed reasons for medical leave, when the employer has such information at the time the employer is evaluating whether leave has been properly or improperly used. “

Doctor’s orders key to FMLA determinations

The employee said his conduct wasn’t inconsistent with his doctor’s instructions, which said he needed six to eight weeks of FMLA leave, should wear a walking boot, and needed to avoid some putting a lot of weight on his foot for a period.

He was following those instructions, he said – wearing the boot and being very careful not to put excessive weight on his foot.

And the court agreed. The Supreme court’s decision noted “An employee recovering from a leg injury may sit with his or her leg raised by the sea shore while fully complying with FMLA leave requirements but may not climb Machu Picchu without abusing the FMLA process. Careful consideration of the reasons for the medical leave and the activities undertaken, including the timeline for rehabilitation and recovery, are required to determine whether FMLA leave has been abused.”

“Shock, outrage and offense”

When HR recommended he should be fired for FMLA abuse, however, it didn’t consider those factors. Nor did HR share that information with senior management.

Since the employer ignored the plaintiff’s medical records and FMLA application, the trial court said, the decision to fire the employee was instead based on “shock, outrage and offense” because the employee indicated he might request more FMLA leave for knee surgery.

And the evidence that the decision was actually driven by emotion came directly from HR’s emails.

The employee asked for a copy of the organization’s salary continuation policy in case he needed it when deciding about requesting leave for the planned knee surgery.

The HR director didn’t provide a copy of the policy. Instead, she forwarded the request to an HR manager with a note asking, “Is he serious?” The HR manager replied, “OMG.”

Later that day, the HR director launched the FMLA investigation.

A $1.3 million lesson

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld the jury award in the original case – $206,000 for back pay and lost future income and benefits, $200,000 for emotional distress and $715,385 in punitive damages. It also let stand the trial court’s award of $634,133 in liquidated damages and attorney fees.

In the end, the company learned a series of very expensive lessons. Make sure employment actions, especially around FMLA, are based on clear facts rather than emotion. Review all documentation carefully when weighing an employee’s version of events. And remind all your execs and managers about the risk that careless communication might later resurface in court.

One final caution that might help other HR pros from hurting their case if they end up in court over an FMLA abuse claim – no time travel allowed.

The employer tried to back up its FMLA abuse claim using photos of the employee in Mexico standing and holding a large fish. But, the court noted, it only got ahold of those pictures AFTER it fired the employee, so it couldn’t have used them as part of its decision making.

The post Worker’s FMLA break in Mexico proves expensive – for his employer appeared first on HR Morning.

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Ageism continues costing employers dearly.

The Los Angeles Times is on the hook for a $15.4 million jury award for demoting an older worker.

It’s just the most recent example of just how much emphasis HR pros should put on educating managers and executives on how to avoid age discrimination.

Former LA Times sports columnist T.J. Simers sued the paper in October 2013 after the paper first reduced and then eliminated his column.

The paper claimed that Simers’ work quality declined after he developed migraines.

Simers pointed to the onset of the migraines as the beginning of a change in his responsibilities.

And he said, he faced increased criticism from managers who had previously praised his work.

Intolerable conditions

He quit, claiming intolerable working conditions and age discrimination and sued the paper and its then-owner Tribune Publishing.

A jury awarded Simers $7.1 million in economic and non-economic damages in 2015, but the judge in the trial later voided much of the original judgment.

Simers and Tribune Publishing both appealed the decision.

A second, more expensive award

In January 2018, a appeals court tossed the intolerable working conditions claim.

But, the court said, a jury should reconsider whether Simers was the victim of age and disability discrimination.

This time the jury awarded Simers $15.4 million for personal and emotional suffering caused by the paper’s treatment of the writer after his health problems started.

Tribune Publishing could still appeal the latest decision.

However, if it stands, the company could be looking at a $22 million bill after interest is included, according to Simers’ lawyer.

Rising tide of ageism claims

This case follows other recent multi-million dollar age discrimination judgments against Google, Lockheed Martin and other large employers in recent years.

It looks like the tide of age-related discrimination lawsuits will only keep rising as boomer workers age.

In June four Ford Motor company workers sued, claiming that the auto giant targeted them and other older workers in its ongoing restructuring.

And just this week, the principal at a New Jersey public school sued, saying he was pushed aside because of his age.

He claims the school forced him to move his workspace from his former office into an electrical closet after it hired a second, younger principal.

The post Judge sees age discrimination, jury awards $15 million appeared first on HR Morning.

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I mean really, can you blame them?

Little white lies about cellphone service and Wi-Fi are acceptable to half (49%) of US employees to avoid workplace interruptions while on vacation, according to the 2019 Vacation Confidence survey released by Allianz Global Assistance.

“Email creep,” (no, not that strange new guy sitting next to you) when work obligations encroach on personal time, affects two thirds (65%) of workers who feel the need to check-in with the office while on vacation.

Crappy WiFi to the rescue

Hence, blaming limited phone service or crappy Wi-Fi has become the excuse du jour for employees this summer.

Most likely to use the excuse are:

• Millennials (59%)
• Gen X’ers (49%)
• Boomers (32%).

While men and women are equally honest (or dishonest), with no difference between the sexes at 49% each, those earning more than $50,000 a year are significantly more likely (53%) to use the excuse compared to those earning less than $50,000 (39%).

Who is the most likely person to pull the “I’m cutting out” excuse? A white (53%), college-educated (50%) Millennial (59%) who is married (53%) with children (53%) and working full time (50%) for an annual salary more than $50,000 (53%) in the Northeast (53%). (Insert photo here)

1 in 4 like ‘working vacations’

A quarter of all working Americans (24%), make a point not
to go on vacation in places where poor cell reception or Wi-Fi access could
disrupt their connection to the office.

Millennials (74%) are the most likely to check email while on vacation, but the rate is also high for Gen X’ers (58%) and Boomers (63%), with the most common reason: it makes catching up on work easier when returning to the office (34%).

A work/life balance issue

Despite the pressures to stay “online” and
connected to the office while on vacation, the majority of working Americans
(54%) would choose to work even more while away if it meant they were able to
take more vacations throughout the year.

Millennials were more likely (64%) to opt for more vacations
with more checking in at work scenario. Boomers were more likely (54%) to
prefer fewer vacations if it means they could be unplugged from the office.

“Most working Americans feel pressured to spend their
vacations attached to their work email, when they may just need a few days to
unplug. Consequently, half of U.S. workers are willing to lie about lack of
connectivity to set them free from work obligations,” said Daniel Durazo,
director of marketing and communications at Allianz Global Assistance USA.

The post Half of US workers would lie about cell reception/WiFi to avoid working on vacation appeared first on HR Morning.

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Providing employees with a strong Employee Experience is
more than a great company picnic and premium benefits.

Employee Experience, or EX, is about employees feeling like
there are strong contributors to the success of the company. They are
productive and efficient because the employer treats them like a customer,
providing them with the tools and training they need to do the job, and absorbing
them into a positive company culture.

It starts when a candidate applies for a job with your company and ends when they leave the job, whether it’s to relocate or retire. Every step of the process — timely follow-up after the job application is submitted, how quickly IT issues get resolved on the job, how benefits are added over time to reflect the needs of the current workforce – that’s all EX.

EX holds more value for workers than the frequency of raises or the 401(k) match because it affects the daily journey of contributing to company success, resolving problems, growing skillsets and helping the company improve.

Think about where you are

Modern companies want the employee to take a more holistic
approach to their work.

For a better EX, companies now take a holistic approach to how they partner with their employees.

How? Involve them in problem solving and decision making
based on who has the freshest perspective, instead of who has a title. Start
dissolving the silos where departments focus only on their area of
responsibility, and leadership is disconnected from the day-to-day realities of
the company’s operations.

Employees want to be treated like customers. Meet their needs, value their input and let them help you grow the company.

This short checklist covers some of the key areas of EX. Ask
yourself, are your employees:

• Getting quality communication? In good times and
  when there’s a tough spot to get through, employees want to hear appropriate
  details honestly and from the top. They want to know how things are. How can
  they pitch in to make things better again after something goes wrong?
• Supported with the right technology? Talented
  workers want to keep moving forward with their tasks and be efficient. IT
  problems happen, but if employees feel like their software or infrastructure is
  too old and too slow to do the job, it frustrates them. You don’t want to send
  the message that the work being done is not valuable enough to invest in better
  systems.  The IT department should be as
  invested in EX as the human resource team is.
• Understanding every benefit? From health care
  choices to helping them save money in retirement or health savings accounts, keep
  them educated on all the great things your company invests in to help their
  life go better. Regular communication through brown-baggers, helpful yet brief
  emails, table tents in the breakroom or any other frequent and digestible way
  to relay how the company is trying to help them improves EX. Little-used
  benefits you thought would be more popular, like gym membership reimbursement
  or tele-medicine, could use more promoting, or get replaced with what workers
  really want. Just ask them!

Employee experience goals         

When companies provide a great employee experience,
employees spend their time on things that matter to them. They don’t waste time
doing tasks they don’t want to do or waste time on slow software systems.

Work is done better and faster in companies with great EX.
Here’s why:

• The EX is carefully planned and optimized to provide a great experience just like how the customer experience is used for marketing purposes.
• Technology is sophisticated enough to automate mundane tasks and reduce some of the complexity of more detailed processes. For example, candidates don’t have to upload every function of their resume to your ATS, the system can pull it from LinkedIn with one click.
• Innovation is part of the company culture. Employees’ creative ideas flourish and they feel empowered to collaborate with others and implement them to push the company forward.

Where to start with EX

HR experts like Josh Bersin, writing on EX for digitalHRtech recommends these
starting points:

• Think like an employee. Actually follow them around, survey them, sit with them in workshops. This is how you find out what bugs them at work and hear all the little stories about what makes things difficult for them to do the job the way they want to do it.
• Look at the moments that matter in a job. How does your company handle onboarding? What about job changes? Relocations or transfers? If these steps are difficult, not only do they take more time than they should, they stick in an employee’s mind. If someone starts working for you and it takes two weeks to get their computer set up correctly, that impression sticks for a long time. It’s also the first story the next new-hire in the same department will hear. That’s not good.
• Co-create. Every solution to improve EX should have employees involved. Their experiences have determined what processes are broken and what needs to happen to make work easier. Employees are the authority on what the EX is like in the company, and they know where all the rough spots are.
• Simplify. Every business has processes that are too complicated, and they don’t have to be. How seamless is your T&E reimbursement process? Does it take days for employees to wade through paperwork? Is it electronic or on paper forms? Does it take a week for managers to approve expenses? If so, it’s clearly not simple enough – or everyone isn’t on board with treating employees with the same efficiency as the company treats its customers.
• Segment. Every employee experience can’t be fixed at once, so choose starting points and map the journey. For example, work to improve HR practices and IT needs first. When those are simplified and more employee friendly, move on to the next things that are clogging up the EX. Maybe that’s rewards and recognition, or training processes.

How EX improves the business

Improving employee experience starts when the company begins
to focus on it because they are involved in the improvement. They see how
serious the company is about making a better place to work and thrive.

From the business end, when obstacles are removed and processes
simplified, the company reaps rewards. In a 2017 survey of companies ranked for
EX, the top 25% produced 51% more revenue from new products and services in the
past two years. The bottom 25% produced 24% more revenue.

Jacob Morgan wrote in Harvard Business Review of his research
on how companies invest in employee engagement and how other companies focus on
EX. He found companies that invest effectively in improving EX have employees
that do better work, do a better job of serving customers, grow faster, pay
better, increase (at least double) revenue and are on average four times more profitable.

Think of your current EX as a pill flavor. Would
yo

The post Improving employee experience makes for a better company: Here’s how appeared first on HR Morning.

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Since there are more jobs than qualified candidates in this
tight labor market, you’re probably doing what you can to keep the talent you
have intent on staying with your company and doing their best work.

But will that be enough?

A big part of that answer depends on how well you reward and
recognize employees.

Here’s why.

In a recent CareerBuilder survey, 50% of employees said they
would stay at their current job if they were tangibly recognized for their
efforts. The same survey showed 40% wouldn’t bother to go above and beyond
their assigned job duties if they don’t feel meaningfully recognized.

If those numbers don’t worry you, think about this one: 53% of
workers are willing to “quickly leave the company for a slightly better offer,”
according to a Gallup poll in 2018.

That would be way too much churn.

Many HR pros today struggle to find a way to get top management to realize that putting a cash bonus in the paycheck once a year isn’t how you make staff feel valued. Ten years ago it was fine, but there were more workers than jobs back then, remember?

Today’s employees need to be tangibly appreciated frequently — like saying “amazing job!” in real-time, or even better, in a public setting like a team meeting – and in bigger ways (like a commissioned custom oil painting, which is what global entertainment giant Scopely does) for taking the team to the next level.

Need ideas? Here are 13 ways other companies put time, effort and money into recognizing the talent they have.

Encourage employees to recognize each other

It makes perfect sense to encourage employees to pat each
other on the back and give the recognition deserved – after all, coworkers are
the first to see the sweat and blood that goes into exceeding company
expectations!

This can be a somewhat informal system, or program based; it
can include gifting or not.

• Create an online kudos form on the company intranet that employees can access. Have them explain why their coworker is deserving of recognition and make that recognition viewable to everyone on the site. Repurpose the kudos in the company newsletter as well. TINYpulse reports that 44% of workers give peer recognition when they have a tool to do so.  Software programs are available to make this happen if it’s not something the IT department can set up on your intranet.
• Peer-to-Peer recognition tools can enable employees to give a shout-out to a fellow worker for saving the day or a project well-completed. Those shout-outs can accumulate, and the “points” can be used for prizes. At the tech company Motley Fool, employees let each other know about a job well done 35 times a day on average!
• Online shoe retailer Zappos has a monetized peer recognition program that allows employees to recognize each other’s hard work through incentives. One program allows an employee to give a coworker $50 for going above and beyond.  The second program, their Zollar Program, allows employees to rack up recognitions as points on a gift card that can be used to buy things like a gym bag or a desk fan.

Recognition readily
available

Recruit the owners, the executives and middle management to
be committed to rewarding good work well and often.

Here are some really effective on-the-spot practices. Some
are applicable to a whole team and some focus on a single employee:

• It takes time on the manager’s part, but crafting a short note thanking a worker for their dedication and naming specifically what they are being lauded for can make an employee feel tremendously valued. This is something that should be sincere, legible, and done pretty quickly (within a day or two) of the employee’s act or success. It can be left on their desk or handed to them in the course of the day.
• When an employee or team of workers has gone beyond the call of duty to get a project completed by deadline, or saved the day after a near-disaster, managers could reach into the company stash and present the team with company apparel. A free T-shirt or ball cap that has the current logo is an inexpensive way to say, “thank you.” Just make sure it’s not a hodgepodge of old stuff with outdated logos, because that really kills the effect.
• Provide managers with a supply of gift cards of small dollar amounts that can be given on the spot when someone is doing something right. Companies can get these cards from discount sites (Living Social, Groupon) or warehouse stores like Costco to stretch the budget. Instant recognition is a huge morale boost to the employee and their coworkers, who see someone being valued and know it could be them next. Don’t make this clunky by having to put in a requisition and getting the gift card 45 days later, because the moment is lost.
• Exceeding goals, making a somewhat unrealistic deadline or finishing a huge project can all be rewarded with an email to the team saying, “it’s a beautiful afternoon, go enjoy it” or “I appreciate how hard you’ve all worked, feel free to leave for the day and enjoy yourself.”
• A manager who knows the employee’s favorite coffee shop or candy bar can leave a small reward on their desk with a sticky note thanking them for a job well done. For a team, bringing in donuts or bagels in the morning (with gluten free options) or arranging for an ice cream truck to come by one afternoon for a treat on the company’s dime is definitely a morale booster.  If you really want management to walk the walk of employee recognition, have bosses create the “indoor food truck” experience by going to each department with a cart of ice cream treats (like Klondike Bars and ice cream sandwiches). If it’s wintertime do a cocoa cart with hot cocoa, whipped cream and peppermint sticks.
• Consider creating a point system for employee kudos and pair it with peer-to-peer and management recognition. Point values are assigned to the thank-you and can be built up for the employee to use in a catalog. Several outlets provide companies with catalogs featuring different levels of gifts, from thermal lunch totes to recliners and televisions.

Budgeted recognition

You’ve already been adding to their benefits menu, workday
flexibility and even helping employees pay back student loans. All these things
draw talent to your open positions, but now you need to keep them happy
long-term.

The rewards programs listed here come with a cost, but the
companies using them want to make sure their top performers feel appreciated:

• Yankee Candle Company claims to sell the “World’s
  Best Loved Candle” and rewards the “World’s Best Loved Employees.” With a
  global presence, company leaders didn’t just want to mail out recognition gifts
  to top performers, which seems so impersonal. All managers are equipped with a
  “best loved employees” toolkit that have various denominations of gift cards
  and other instant rewards to be presented in person for good work.
• Mobile gaming factory Scopely recognizes major
  contributions from team members weekly with a trophy, social media shout-out
  and a coveted preferred parking space. Work anniversaries are huge there –
  employees get gifts like custom made samurai swords and one-of-a-kind oil
  paintings. Two Rivers Marketing takes a more cost-effective approach with a
  personal caricature of the employee on their first anniversary. Using the first
  anniversary to recognize someone shows them “we’re glad you’re here.”
• New Belgium Brewing, which began with the
  owner’s inspiration from a trip to Belgium, rewards each employee on their
  5-year anniversary with a trip to Belgium. That’s a vacation and appreciation
  of company culture rolled into one.
• Your company can also create an online wish list
  for employees to fill out, and when someone goes above and beyond, the company
  buys them something from the list. Whether it’s an espresso maker or custom car
  mats, the message screams “We are better because of your good work, so here’s
  something that will make you happy.”

The post 13 reward & recognition tactics guaranteed to keep employees engaged appeared first on HR Morning.

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In this post-#MeToo world, nearly every HR pro has made sexual harassment prevention a top priority.

But despite your best efforts, harassment isn’t going away. Research shows employees are just as likely to be sexually harassed now as they were before the #MeToo movement.

Three misconceptions

So why does this issue persist? Turns out, even if HR is proactive and diligent when it comes to harassment prevention efforts, if the higher-ups aren’t committed, problems will continue.

According to employment law attorney Jathan Janove, there are a lot of reasons CEOs don’t take sexual harassment claims more seriously, despite the severity of the issue.

One reason is higher-ups have a hard time believing that employees who are always courteous to their bosses could ever cross a line with their colleagues. It’s easy for managers to dismiss a harassment claim outright, saying something like, “I know John, and he would never do anything like that!”

Janove says another issue is CEOs are more willing to give top performers the benefit of the doubt or a second chance, since that employee impacts the company’s bottom line.

The third reason CEOs aren’t in a hurry to do more is often because they think that current harassment policies and training in place are enough, Janove says. But conventional sexual harassment prevention does little more than protect a company against potential lawsuits.

Culture shift

If HR truly wants to get to the root of the sexual harassment problem, it’ll need to get the C-suite completely on board.

To tackle sexual harassment, company culture needs an adjustment from the top down, Janove says.

CEOs need to adopt the attitude that harassment prevention should be a priority because every employee deserves to feel safe and respected — training and policies shouldn’t have the sole purpose of shielding the company from legal problems.

Janove says when higher-ups get wind of harassment reports, they shouldn’t ask whether the behavior was sexual or unwelcome, but rather, “Does this behavior support our commitment to a respectful, secure work environment for all?”

When a CEO looks at sexual harassment from this perspective, and HR reinforces this position, employees will quickly get the message that harassment is unacceptable.

Convincing the CEO

Creating a united front between HR and the C-suite can be easier said than done, though. Many CEOs believe sexual harassment isn’t a problem at their company.

Here’s how you can convince the higher-ups to take harassment prevention seriously, according to EEOC staff:

1. Cost of litigation. Last year, employers paid about $70 million in monetary damages in EEOC sexual harassment cases. This number doesn’t include lawsuits filed privately. This payout alone is giant enough to get any CEO’s attention.
2. Loss of productivity. It’s impossible for harassed employees to be engaged, productive workers. Victims of harassment often suffer adverse mental health effects, which can result in absenteeism and higher medical costs. A harassment-free environment will only lead to higher productivity.
3. Harm to company reputation. If word gets out about any harassment problems, it will be very difficult for an employer to attract talented candidates. Having a strong stance on preventing sexual harassment will only help with recruiting and ensure company reputation remains intact.

The post Sexual harassment blind spots: 3 keys to opening your CEO’s eyes appeared first on HR Morning.

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In a recent opinion letter, the DOL decided that parents can use FMLA leave to attend their children’s specialized education meetings.

For employers, this adds to the list yet another reason employees could qualify for FMLA leave.

Meetings were essential

The DOL’s opinion letter discussed a mother who needed to take intermittent FMLA leave to care for her special needs children.

Her employer approved that request but denied her request to use leave to attend individualized education program (IEP) meetings at her children’s school.

The DOL ruled these meetings qualified for FMLA use, since they involved the children’s teachers and doctors discussing their health and needs.

The agency noted the mother’s attendance at these meetings is essential to properly provide care for her children.

This is a good warning for employers not to outright deny a worker’s FMLA request, since “caring for a family member with a serious health condition” can cover a lot of ground.

Employers should also be aware this decision may increase the number of FMLA requests they receive.

The post DOL: FMLA can be used to attend school IEP meetings appeared first on HR Morning.

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With so many employers focused on how the legalization of medical and/or recreational marijuana might affect them, it’s understandable that companies may be less adept at dealing with worker drug and alcohol use.

But the truth is, mishandling these situations can get you in as much legal trouble as not complying with your state’s marijuana laws.

Real-world scenarios

Here are some common situations involving employee drug and alcohol use you may encounter, and guidance on how to handle them:

1. An employee wants an ADA accommodation or FMLA leave for a drug or alcohol addiction.

A series of DOL opinion letters addressed this issue, and it was determined that under certain circumstances, addiction can be considered a serious health condition under the FMLA.

Addicts are eligible for FMLA leave if they’re currently seeking treatment from a healthcare provider.

It’s important to note that FMLA leave can’t be used due to absences caused by substance use. So if an employee relapses and is absent because of that, they’re no longer FMLA-protected.

As for the ADA, an addict currently in recovery might qualify for an accommodation. For example, if an employee requests that their schedule gets adjusted so they can attend AA meetings, an employer may have to grant that request.

2. An employer wants to ask an employee questions about their drug, alcohol or medication use.

When you learn an employee is using any of the above substances, it’s natural to want to know more information as it may affect their performance.

However, there are only certain circumstances when it’s acceptable to ask.

In Lansdale v. UPS Supply Chain Solutions, a jury found an employer didn’t violate the ADA by asking about an employee’s drinking habits and alcohol use.

During an audit, some discrepancies were found between an employee’s expense report and the charges on their corporate card. When questioned, the employee admitted he purchased alcohol on the company card so his wife wouldn’t find out.

After learning this, the employer asked follow-up questions about the employee’s drinking — he later sued, claiming this violated his ADA rights.

A jury sided with the employer. Since it was conducting a credit card misuse investigation, the ADA hadn’t been violated.

However, in other cases, questions like these may violate the ADA if the employee is protected. The Act states an employer “shall not make inquiries as to the nature or severity of the disability unless it is consistent with business needs.”

The same goes for questions about prescription medications. The EEOC says employee medication use would rarely impact someone’s ability to do their job. However, in limited circumstances employers may ask.

For example, medications might impact a police officer or pilot’s ability to safely perform their jobs, so an employer may inquire about prescriptions and possible side effects in that case.

3. An employer wants to screen job candidates for marijuana, even though it’s legal in a good portion of the country now.

There are a few places that have outlawed pre-employment marijuana screenings: New York City and the state of Nevada. But everywhere else, it’s up to the employer whether or not to conduct these screenings.

Many employment lawyers advise against this unless jobs are safety-sensitive, such as a federal DOT employee or a doctor. Unnecessarily screening candidates for marijuana can severely limit your candidate pool.

The post Substance abuse & the ADA: What’s tripping up firms now appeared first on HR Morning.

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