Question: Our company policy says that employees must obtain authorization before working overtime, but one of our employees has continued to work overtime despite my telling him to stop. What can I do about this? You may discipline for unauthorized overtime as you would for any other violation of your policy. It sounds as though you have already given the employee a verbal warning. I would recommend issuing a written warning for the next violation. If the violations continue

Question: Should we get permission from our employees before posting pictures of them on our company website? Yes, we recommend obtaining written consent from employees before posting pictures of them on company websites or social media. Using someone's picture without their consent could violate their right to privacy. Some employees may have reasons for not wanting the public to know where they work (for example, if they are the victim of stalking), or they simply may not f

Question: Can we tell employees not to dye their hair with bright colors? Yes, you can tell employees not to dye their hair, but there are a few things to consider before doing so. Employers generally have the right to set guidelines with respect to professional appearance. Brightly-colored hair is not a protected trait or class (e.g., race, sex, age). However, if it was part of a religious practice or common in a particular ethnicity, an employer would want to consider wheth

Question: What are the best ways to keep company data secure? Below are some best practice tips from an HR perspective for keeping your and your company's information safe. Protect your network with security software and keep this software up-to-date. A quality firewall is a must. As is encryption for your sensitive files. Install quality antivirus and anti-malware software on all computers used for company purposes, and set up regular scans. Back-up your files and databases

Question: What can we as a company do if we discover that an employee has been falsifying their timecards? If you discover an employee has been falsifying their timecard, you should refer to your policies and past practice. Hopefully, you have a policy that makes it clear that timesheets must be accurate and that failure to report time correctly could lead to discipline—up to and including termination. But remember that consistency is key, and similar situations should be han

Question: We have a manager whose hours have been reduced to 20 per week. As a result, she does not meet the minimum salary requirement to maintain her exempt status. Does she need to be reclassified as an hourly non-exempt employee? If so, would the manager’s title need to change? You are correct that since this manager no longer meets the minimum salary requirement to qualify as exempt, she needs to be reclassified as non-exempt. However, you still have an option between cl

Can We Terminate an Employee Who Doesn't Fit With Our Culture? Question: We want to terminate an employee who doesn’t fit with our culture. Can we do this? Do you foresee any issues? First things first, check your policies and any correspondence (like an offer letter) that have been given to the employee to ensure that you have established an at-will employment relationship. Most employers state that employment is at-will, meaning an employee can be terminated at any time, wi

Question: Are we allowed to look through an employee's email while they are still employed? The short answer is yes, you can monitor employee email. As a general rule, employees should not have an expectation of privacy when using company computers or email accounts. That said, the law is not perfectly cut and dry, so you should have both a legitimate business reason for doing so and a policy that puts employees on notice that you do – or could – review their email. If you de

Question: We have employees that submit timesheets. Is it mandatory that they sign them? It is not a requirement that timesheets be signed. We recommend that employees acknowledge that their time records are accurate, either by signing them or by some other submission and acknowledgment method or technology. Having employees review and approve their timesheets prior to submission allows for prompt correction of errors and reduces the likelihood of unreported hours. Signing is

Question: Do We Have to Pay an Employee for Work They Did While on Vacation? A non-exempt employee has asked to be paid for the hour she spent checking work email while she was out on vacation. We didn’t request, require, or authorize this work. How do we handle this? Although you didn’t give this non-exempt employee permission to check her work email while she was on vacation, you will need to pay her for the time she worked. In this case, the employee checked e-mail for one