September—Employment Practices

Can You Sleep on Windy Nights?
By Michael Jamieson

Hoping to get work on a farm, young Victor went to a cattle show where farmers came from miles around to display their livestock. After a while, a farmer came over to the place where Victor was standing with a group of boys. He was drawn to Victor’s open, honest, sunburned face and asked, “Do you know anything about farm work?” Victor’s response caught the farmer off guard: “I can sleep on windy nights.”Full article

When "Good People" Do Bad Things
By Karnik Doukmetzian

It began innocuously enough: first the mushy love letters, then the small gifts, followed by more personal gifts. Before long, the abuse was in full swing, and that’s when the mother began noticing changes in her little girl. As the mother probed and the story unfolded, questions also surfaced. How could such a well-respected church elder do such a thing? He was married with children, and she was only 13 years old; didn’t he know that? 
Full article

Bob's One-Minute Rule
By Robert H. Burrow, Esq.

Terminating an employee is rarely pleasant or stress-free. Success or failure in this task hinges on actions taken long before the decision to terminate. In such situations, foresight and common sense are required. This article homes in on what I have affectionately dubbed Bob’s one-minute rule. I hope you will use this rule as a tool to help you focus on these issues.

Bob’s One-Minute Rule: Can you explain, in one minute or less, why you are terminating this employee?Full article

Proper Documentation
By Dorothy Redmon

When evaluating an employee’s performance, it is important to document the positive and, when necessary, the negative. You can protect yourself when disciplining an employee and help turn their performance around by learning how to deal with substandard work quality, absenteeism, insubordination, sexual harassment, e-mail misuse, and more.

Appropriate documentation is crucial for the protection of your organization. The following is a flow chart for documentation titled FOSA: Full article