Top 10 HR Question to Know

By SiliconIndia | Monday, April 16, 2012

Bangalore: There's been a sign of improvement seen in the field of economy now days. And due to this more companies has started hiring and has started giving salary increment.
"Demands on HR professionals have increased dramatically since the recession began and our members continue to be challenged to handle more tasks and issues with fewer resources," said Dan Chaney, director of HR advisory services at ERA.

A list of top 10 questions is being released by the Canadian HR Reporter, Thomson Reuters Canada Limited from some of the organization which specializes in HR consulting, training, development, legal updates, news and information are listed below.

1. FMLA is the single most asked-about topic-who is covered; what is deemed a serious health condition; and how to control intermittent leave.

2. Advice and counsel for taking such adverse actions as termination, suspension and discipline-what documentation is needed to fire someone; does a recent worker's compensation claim or FMLA request affect the decision being made; can the employee sue for termination?

3. Performance management strategies-Strategies for dealing with a problem employee such as: Is it safe to ramp up the heat on a new hire who may not be working out or on a protected-class employee who isn't responding to counseling? Also, group performance issues concurrent with culture changes or business cycle needs.

4. Fair Labor Standards Act issues-concerns centre on correctly classifying a position as exempt, calculating overtime for multiple rates, what travel hours must be paid for an hourly employee, what are federal and state child labour rules. In addition, how much time can we ignore at clock-in or out? Can we round?

5. Immigration-many questions regarding documentation and procedural questions.

6. Lunch hour and breaks-Questions about giving breaks and how many per day. Is a lunch period required? What has to be paid versus non-paid time? Can an employee work through break and leave early?

7. Employee access to personnel files-Does the law require us to allow an employee to see or copy his file? What are the pros and cons of allowing it versus not? We just got a letter from an attorney requesting files, do we have to send her the files? We have employees in a few other states, are the rules different there?

8. Independent contractor versus employee-What's the difference? Why can't I just pay this person as a contractor? What constitutes a legal independent contractor status? Who makes the rules?

9. Employee privacy-Can we read employee emails or monitor Internet usage? What about the use of surveillance cameras, is it legal? Can we search employees or their workplace, belongings or cars? Can we use GPS technology to monitor employees? What about employees who use company-provided smart phones?

10. Drug and alcohol issues-Under what conditions can employees be tested? If the employee tests positive, can we discharge? How can a drug test procedure be set up, what should be in the policy?