Employee Relations 

Is Your Employee Handbook Too Wordy? 
New employees commonly are asked to sign a form saying that they “have read and understand” their company’s employee handbook. But such documents often contain a level of detail that can overwhelm a new hire.

Decision-Making Leave Can Help
Employers are offering brief decision-making leave to document the basis for terminating a worker.

Experts: Psychologically Healthy Workplaces Boost Business
Workplaces that foster employee health and well-being create an environment of improved employee productivity, attendance, retention and engagement, according to the American Psychological Association.

Costs of Family Responsibilities Discrimination is High
Litigation claiming bias against workers who care for children or aging parents has increased 400 percent in the past decade, and the average verdict in such a case now is more than $500,000, a new report finds.

Wal-Mart Settles Sex Bias Suit
Wal-Mart Stores will pay $11.7 million in back wages and compensatory damages to settle a sex discrimination lawsuit.

EEOC Releases New Data on Private Industry Job Patterns
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has released extensive new data on job patterns in the private sector, containing comprehensive labor force profiles of race, gender and ethnicity divided by categories such as job title, occupation and locale.

Employees Have Ideas. Is Anyone Listening? 
People age 55 and older, women and HR professionals make workplace suggestions more often than others, a survey finds.

Employee Relations in the Nonprofit World
Those who have never worked in a non- or not-for-profit organization might wonder whether HR practices differ in any notable ways from those in the for-profit world. HR professionals provide a glimpse into the nonprofit employee relations environment.

Expert Gives Performance Appraisal Advice 
When done right, performance appraisals can be highly useful. But when done wrong they can demoralize employees, frustrate managers and expose an organization to legal risk. A legal expert provides advice.