HR Stories Podcast - A Lesson in Every Story!

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to another Listener Q&A with The Team at HR Stories! Today's episode goes into these questions: How do you effectively advise on not hiring a bad culture-fit candidate? How do you properly navigate legal documentation and onboarding documentation for transgender individuals? How do you work with an employee who is hesitant to come back to work on restrictions afte...

Send us Fan Mail When a new hire of a trucking company follows directives from a supervisor, he lands in hot water - literally - and in a dispute around workmans' comp. What is classified under this umbrella and how can you think about it in realistic terms? This week, Chuck and John dive into all of this an more as they discuss intramural sports leagues, lunchtime volleyball, and... waxing s...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to another Listener Q&A with The Team at HR Stories! Today's episode goes into these questions: Should supervisors working in the field be exempt or non-exempt? What questions should we ask? When you try to offload responsibilities from Directors to Managers but the Directors continue to step in and say how things should be handled, how do you get them to let go a...

Send us Fan Mail Whether you’re a seasoned HR professional or someone who was volun-told that you are now handling HR functions at work, there can be an overwhelming amount of questions around every corner and in every process. Maybe you’re trying to figure out how to manage remote workers effectively or how to properly handle an investigation into a claim of harassment. Perhaps you’ve taken a new...

Send us Fan Mail A story in the New York Times brought to light a different side to the Trader Joe's so many know and love, talking about how a policy of positivity and happy greetings was creating quite the opposite of a work environment for employees. In today’s episode, Chuck and John talk about this contradicting policy and environment, particularly with how it came across with a “smile”...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to another Listener Q&A with The Team at HR Stories! Today's episode goes into these questions: Are the new FLSA Salary threshold rules in place for January 2025? Did we miss the announcement? If you have an employee working on the phone with customers and the customer starts speaking very inappropriately, what action can you take against the customer? Do you have...

Send us Fan Mail Today, Chuck and John went into the vault to talk about the crazy story that had someone saying, "I'm going to run you over with this forklift!" Join them on this trip into the archives. We'll be back next week with a new Q&A episode. --------- When an employee consistently makes harassing comments and even threatens violence against another coworker, this...

Send us Fan Mail In this weird and wacky episode, Chuck and John talk about some of the more strange instances they and other HR professionals have dealt with. Being in the unique position of HR, you’ll encounter all sorts of interesting people and situations, often having to figure out how to navigate the most challenging of circumstances. From nose pickers to scab pickers, tarot card readers to...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to another Listener Q&A with The Team at HR Stories! Today's episode goes into these questions: How do you handle a salary non-exempt employee working overtime one week and under hours the next during a pay period? Are you required to give pay increases to all employees? A manager suspects someone is working for a competitor. There is a conflict of interest policy...

Send us Fan Mail Join us in this episode of the HR Stories Podcast, where we uncover the complexities and legalities of the interview process. Chuck and John dive into a lively discussion sparked by a heated Facebook debate on working interviews. They clarify the nuances of what employers can legally ask candidates to do, ensuring organizations navigate the process without falling into legal pitfa...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to another Listener Q&A with The Team at HR Stories! Today's episode goes into these questions: Does FMLA paperwork need to be filled out by the doctor or can a nurse practitioner fill it out? Can we deny it if the doctor won’t fill it out? What timelines do I need to keep in mind during a merger? How do I handle layoffs and uncertainty around my job status? C-Sui...

Send us Fan Mail Something big is coming from The Team at HR Stories this fall! Don’t miss out on the chance at an early view of it. In this week’s episode, the team does an extended Listener Q&A format, diving further in to some interesting topics, telling a story alongside each question - Can employees refuse to do mandatory training? Can there be legal repercussions? Does AI screening softw...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to another Listener Q&A with The Team at HR Stories! Today's episode goes into these questions: How does confidentiality work in HR? What suggestions do you have to boost employee moral and how do you work with employees who don’t want to participate in employee activities? We have one person who had approved time off - has booked their vacation already - and anot...

Send us Fan Mail It’s July! You know that means we’re celebrating! Not only the 4th of July but also the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, signed July 2nd in 1964. In today’s episode, Chuck and John talk about the importance of this act and the work of the EEOC through the eyes of three employees of a property management company where they were subjected to vulgar and ethnicity-related har...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to another Listener Q&A with The Team at HR Stories! Today's episode goes into these questions: Can I hold an employee responsible for behavior that they participate in outside of work, on personal time? Does it ever get easier to terminate someone? If a company schedules a meeting over a posted holiday, can you shift that PTO day to another day? Support the show...

Send us Fan Mail Laws around discrimination on the basis of sex are nothing new but the conversation and nuance around it has changed. While political climates have made conversations around gender and sex a heated topic, how do you ensure your employees, management, and HR policies align with the law, not personal opinions. In today’s episode, Chuck and John take you through three stories where c...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to another Listener Q&A with The Team at HR Stories! Today's episode goes into these questions: Do you have a good step-by-step process for creating or gathering job descriptions for all roles in the company? How do you handle an employee who has slower output but claims to have a disability? Do you have any suggestions for remote activities or keepsakes that are...

Send us Fan Mail Summer’s here and you don’t want to get ‘burned’ by the seasonal conditions. In today’s episode, Chuck and John explore the dangers of outdoor work conditions and how they can result in the most tragic of circumstances if you are not taking the proper steps to protect your employees. In the HR News segment, the team touches on the following topics and more: Years of experience on...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to another Listener Q&A with The Team at HR Stories! Today's episode goes into these questions: Can I, as an exempt employee, work in a non-exempt role at the same company performing a separate job? We hired someone has a salary exempt employee but after 10 months, his job description changed and reclassified him as non-exempt. Do we need to pay him overtime when...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode, we're unraveling a case that blends social media, workplace rights, and a touch of constitutional debate. Chuck and John explore how Bevins & Son Inc. found themselves embroiled in a Department of Labor lawsuit over unpaid wages and social media retaliation. Discover how a Facebook post turned a wage dispute into a federal case, challenging the bo...

Send us Fan Mail Today, we jump back into the vault to revisit one of our most popular stories from this year - Sheri Minarsky's workplace harassment fight. We'll be back next week with a new episode. ------------ Dive into a riveting episode of HR Stories Podcast, featuring the story of Sheri Minarsky's brave stand against workplace harassment. This episode, reveals Sheri's st...

Send us Fan Mail Your office might be susceptible to a fast-spreading and harmful contagion. You can't see it but you can feel it... and you can definitely hear it. In this week's episode, Chuck and John talk about those negative voices you experience in the office and how they can impact your team. Navigating these type of interactions and individuals can be challenging but it is key to...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to another Listener Q&A with The Team at HR Stories! Today's episode goes into these questions: Several employees clock in early and sit around, drinking coffee and talking, prior to their shift. Are we required to pay them for this? What do you do if you start a new company and some employees do not have I-9’s or other documents? How do you handle an underperform...

Send us Fan Mail Chuck and John do a twist on the normal episode, taking headlines you may have read and heard about and diving into them to pull out the lessons to be learned. In this jam-packed episode, the team talks through a several topics.  Can making someone work longer shifts be illegal? The team's favorite answer - It depends.  When companies are pulling back the reigns on WFH, is it...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to another Listener Q&A with The Team at HR Stories! Today we have a couple of updates before we dive into the questions. White-Collar Exemption Update Can you keep gossip out of the workplace? Reasons companies aren’t hiring 50+ Today's episode goes into these questions: Do I need to get a new I-9 for an employee who just became a citizen? Does an exempt employee...