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: I got fired and now my ex-boss is asking for the whereabouts of important files. How should I respond? What do you do when asked for a reference? Would you require a new I-9 to be completed if there’s an incorrect document number? Support the show Our new book... The Ul...

Send us Fan Mail What do you get when you cross a comedian with a hostile work environment? Today’s story! When a complaint comes out against people on the Jimmy Fallon staff of The Tonight Show, people’s assumptions of it being a fun, positive place to work are challenged. The internal teams at NBC are challenged with the task of addressing issues with a lead personality. On today’s episode, Chuc...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to another Listener Q&A with The Team at HR Stories! Today's episode goes into these questions: I have an employee who consistently makes comments that they aren’t getting the OT they are used to getting and the lack of consistent hours (being they get 37 and not 40 plus). These comments are harming them personally (how people are perceiving them in the workplace)...

Send us Fan Mail When a Pittsburg pizzeria’s kitchen staff raised a number of complaints about working conditions, they felt repeatedly unheard. After a heated exchange...and references to Nation Labor Relations Act Section 7 and 8 (NLRA) the fallout of the situation landed in the courts. Pulled from court documents, The Team digs deep into this story and breaks it down on where the pizzeria went...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to another Listener Q&A with The Team at HR Stories! Today’s episode goes into these questions: Is it HR's Responsibility to address personal hygiene in the workplace? If an employee does not follow through on providing necessary paperwork from a doctor for a service animal, what is the employer’s role in that situation? What should be included in an AI policy? Su...

Send us Fan Mail Part 2 of our Employee Rights Series, Chuck and John dive further into how understanding employee rights can not only help your company avoid legal troubles but also improve employee retention. In one case, Amazon had exposed their employees to ergonomic hazards on an ongoing basis. When a situation like this is realized by an employee, what steps would need to take place to corre...

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 properly calculate travel pay for hourly employees? How do you communicate policies that are not in the employee handbook? Looking for direction on bereavement policies - do you offer pre-death (hospice care) leave, leave for the death of a pet, etc.? Email your q...

Send us Fan Mail Have you heard that you can get in trouble for discussing wages with other employees? This intimidation practice can not only be stressful or infringe upon employee rights but also illegal. There are a number of ways that employers can violate employee rights and this is part one of a two-part series all about those rights. It’s important to remember that you, as an HR professiona...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to another Listener Q&A with The Team at HR Stories! Today’s episode goes into these questions: We have a full-time employee who is not reaching his minimum of 32 hours a week. What should we do if his leadership doesn’t have enough work for him? There is a department at my company that has loud cursing all day long. Is it considered a hostile work environment if no on...

Send us Fan Mail  When a business decides to work with a vendor or other third party that is not an employee, they still must protect their employees from inappropriate or unlawful actions from those third parties.  In today's episode learn what happened when a Manager for UPS in Boulder, Colorado turns down the advances of her Union Rep.  Chuck and John also tell a couple of different storie...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to another Listener Q&A with The Team at HR Stories! Today’s episode goes into these questions: We have an employee on FMLA who has been released back to work after surgery in about a month. Do we need to request a more current doctor's note closer to the return date or will the original note suffice? The employee is asking for an accommodation to work from home u...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode, we take a trip back to 2020 to revisit one of our most popular episodes - The Story of the Lost Employee. You only get one shot at a first impression and nowhere can that be felt more than the very first day at a new job. From unclear directions to stale information, there is a multitude of ways to have your new employee leaving asking themselves, "Di...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to another Listener Q&A with The Team at HR Stories! Today’s episode dives into several interesting questions: I left my former employer but they never termed me in their system. They ended up paying me wages on this payroll that I'm not entitled to. I've contacted the CFO and they have not gotten back to me. What do I do? How are you currently handling exit...

Send us Fan Mail Have you had that nightmare where you’re locked into your office and can’t get out? You check all of the doors and everywhere you go, you’re locked in and have no choice but to keep working. For a team at Home Depot doing overnight work, this was a reality. On top of the safety concerns with this, there were also violations of their break times occurring if a manager was not there...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to another Listener Q&A with The Team at HR Stories! Today’s episode dives into several interesting questions How do you deal with an employee who refuses to work alone with a member of the opposite sex citing religious convictions?  Any ideas how to bring an admin out of her shell? I hesitate to use the word anti-social, but I'm at my wits end trying to deal with...

Send us Fan Mail When an employee consistently makes harassing comments and even threatens violence against another coworker, this company made missteps in responding and properly stepping in.  In the HR News segment, the team touches on the following topics and more: E-Verify and I-9 requirements EEOC newly released sexual harassment guidelines EEOC weighing in on equal pay when trying to hire ne...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to the first Listener Q&A episode! Today, Chuck and John take on a batch of listener questions: How do you deal with an employee who refuses to work alone with a member of the opposite sex citing religious convictions? Any ideas how to bring an Admin out of her shell? I hesitate to use the word anti-social, but I'm at my wits end trying to deal with her. If someon...

Send us Fan Mail You're sitting at your desk and the person next to you sneezes. A Few moments later, another sneeze, followed by the blowing of their nose. You start hearing some coughs thrown into the mix. We've all been in that position when we see someone in the office while they're under the weather, wishing they had stayed home rather than getting everyone else sick.  Since th...

Send us Fan Mail The Team at HR Stories is on a mission to help small business owners, non-profit leaders, and HR Professionals create better employee management practices.  We do this through stories.  In each episode of the HR Stories Podcast, management and HR consultants John Thalheimer and Chuck Simikian share stories where organizational leaders allowed poor decision-making, lack of knowledg...

Send us Fan Mail Sylvia Aiello, was a pregnant woman who sought disability benefits under the California State Disability Insurance program. However, the program excluded coverage for pregnancy-related disabilities. Aiello argued that this exclusion violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The state, represented by Michael N. Geduldig, defended the exclusion, stating that...

Send us Fan Mail You get a knock at the door. Your heart is beating in your ears. You knew this day could come but you weren’t sure when. You approach the door, hand trembling to open it. Then you see the government officials asking you for I-9 documents! This doesn’t have to turn into a horror movie. In today’s episode, Chuck and John discuss the importance of I-9 documents and ensuring they are...

Send us Fan Mail “Hello! I'm ChatGPT, an AI language model trained to answer questions and provide information. As an AI myself, I believe that the use of AI in Human Resources has the potential to revolutionize the industry and bring many benefits, but it is important to approach it with caution and ethical considerations.” That message above was provided by one of many AI systems that are e...

Send us Fan Mail You start out your day with a list of to-do’s. First, you start checking your emails. Then another colleague stops by and asks you to take a look at a document for them. A phone call comes in asking about a new upcoming project and a projected budget to be put together. A task, another, and another all pop up throughout the day and all of a sudden, the day is gone and your origina...

Send us Fan Mail Retaliation is a known issue when an employee reports a problem but did you know that indirect action to create an environment that would push someone out of the workplace has its own name? In this episode, Chuck and John talk about Constructive Discharge - how it can happen and how to avoid a lawsuit by preventing it.  In the HR News segment, the team touches on the following top...

Send us Fan Mail In each of our work environments, we have specific policies and procedures that we outline for our employees. Holding employees to these expectations can, at times, mean disciplinary measures are taken if they are not followed. This can seem like a clear process but there are some important steps to keep in mind when entering into these moments with your team. Haley Evans was an e...