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God, Baptism, and a Flying Pair of Shoes
HR Stories From The Front Lines*
That headline sounds more like the opening line of a joke than a workplace situation, but the following tale about religious freedom in the workplace is one you should take to heart. Every HR Professional faces tough situations, and being armed with some advance knowledge can make dealing with those difficulties a whole lot simpler. Read on to see how one HR Professional dealt with a trio of peculiar circumstances.*
Do you have an HR question keeping you up at night?
The following questions were submitted to our HR Professionals in the past month …Question #1
I would like to get advice on utilizing best practices when it comes to training and ensuring our employees follow IRS guidelines in reporting their cash tips. The business is a hotel with multiple areas where employees receive tips both as part of a credit card reported payment and in cash.
Is it sufficient for us to educate employees that they are required by the IRS to report their cash tips in excess of $20 on a daily basis? Or are there additional steps that we need to take?
Question #2
During the course of our sexual harassment prevention training with our managers and supervisors a question came up that I was unable to answer.We explained that we have a responsibility to protect our employees from sexual harassment. We explained that if managers see an employee being sexually harassed by a customer that the manager should step in,
finish serving the customer and send the employee to do another task (remove them from the situation).
If it is late at night, and it is just the Shift Manager and another employee working and a customer is sexually harassing the Shift Manager, what should the manager do?
I know our company has an obligation to protect her from that kind of sexual harassment but how can we handle that?
Jill has worked for EZ-CheckOut grocery store as a cashier for the past six months.
While she started off strong, over the past two months, Jill has been having significant performance problems. Specifically, several customers have complained that Jill has been rude when they are checking out.
Apparently, Jill isn’t talking to customers during the checkout process and merely grumbles and hands them their change.
When you talk to her about it, she informs you the reason she can’t communicate with the customers is because she has a disability. You are confused because Jill looks healthy and you have never thought that
anything was wrong with her. You ask her what is wrong, and she tells you that she has been diagnosed with “selective mutism.” Jill explains that selective mutism is a psychiatric disorder in which a person who is normally
capable of speech is unable to speak in given situations or to specific people.
You are not sure what to say next, afraid to say the wrong thing but concerned because customer service is an essential function of her job as a cashier.
What is the next appropriate course of action with Jill?
Talk to Jill. Focus on her job duties and whether or not she can perform these tasks. Do not ask about diagnosis, only how job performance is affected.
Terminate Jill immediately. Its clear that Jill cannot meet the essential functions of the job.
Transfer Jill to another position that does not require her to interact with customers.
Tell Jill that you cannot accommodate her disability as it would be undue hardship on the business.
There’s an old story about a well-dressed gentleman who appears at the Human Resources office one afternoon and asks for a job. The receptionist hands him an application. “No, no, you don’t understand,” he tells her. “I already work here!”
It’s an HR director’s worst nightmare. An employee who has been out on a leave of absence simply falls off the map – until he shows up to reclaim his job.
This information is provided by ePlace Solutions, Inc. which is solely responsible for its content. ePlace Solutions, Inc. is not engaged in rendering legal or other professional services. Federal and state laws are more complex than presented here. This information is simplified for the sake of brevity and is not a substitute for legal advice. ePlace Solutions, Inc. disclaims any liability, loss or risk incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents of this information.
