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There’s plenty of research out there that validates the idea that taking “power naps” while you’re on the clock can help you be more focused and more productive.

Of course, there are obvious times and places where grabbing 40 winks is simply out of the question.

People who drive, run machinery and deal face-to-face with customers quickly come to mind.

But those who do have the opportunity to grab a little shut-eye need to know the best place to do it.

Suggestions:

1. Close your office door. If you’re fortunate enough to be one of the “office people,” shut your door. You might even want to hang a sign: “Be back in 20 minutes.”
2. Borrow someone’s office — and close the door. Next best thing: If a colleague’s going to be in a meeting or out to lunch, ask if you can keep the seat warm for them — while you recharge your batteries with a quick snooze.
3. Scout around for a quiet spot. One of the positive aspects of being around a struggling business: There’s often some unoccupied office space you can co-opt for 20 or 30 minutes.
4. Head for the parking lot and park yourself in your car. Go out to your car or truck, lay the seat back and head for dreamland. You can use music to help block nearby distractions. Be careful: Make sure you set an alarm or ask a friend to make sure you’re awake and at your work station.
5. Get comfy in your cubicle. Push your chair back. Fold up a coat or sweater for under your head. Put your feet up, if you can. It’s best to keep cubicle naps short and sweet — around 10 or so minutes. One drawback: If you snore, it could disturb co-workers or make it clear to anyone in earshot what you’re doing. One safety net: Ask a co-worker who sits near you to roust you should snoring become embarrassingly loud.

Have you ever taken a nap (intentionally) while at work? What did you do and where did you do it?

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As a result of a federal investigation, businesses were ordered to cough up $672,333 to reimburse 273 employees who were shortchanged in their paychecks.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division thoroughly reviews payroll records and employment practices. The Division also interviewed employees to learn more about employers’ compliance (and non-compliance) with labor laws.

The most common problems uncovered included employers that:

• didn’t pay employees for all hours worked (including before and after scheduled hours)
• paid workers in cash — to keep it “off the books”
• paid people a fixed salary — while ignoring minimum wage and overtime pay requirements
• failed to pay people on scheduled paydays, and
• didn’t keep accurate records of wages and work hours.

While this investigation targeted California locations, the enforcement sends a message to many other types of businesses.

“As demonstrated by the success of our ongoing initiatives, we are committed to strengthening FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) compliance in the restaurant industry to protect workers and ensure a level playing field for the many employers who abide by the law and properly pay their employees,” said a regional administrator for the feds.

Under the FLSA, eligible employees must be paid at least $7.25 an hour, the federal minimum wage. They also must be paid time-and-a-half for time worked in excess of 40 hours over the course of a week.

In the restaurant industry, it’s not unusual for servers to earn less than federal minimum wage.

In addition, employers are required to keep accurate records of wages, hours and employment conditions.

The FLSA also makes it clear that employers that retaliate against employees who stand up for their rights are likely to face punishment.

The FLSA is enforced in virtually all businesses, not just the restaurant industry.

Year-end is a good time for Human Resources to urge supervisors to help review employment records and assignments. Changes do occur over the course of a year that could be overlooked in updating records.

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Answer: None.

Not Christmas? Hanukkah? Kwanza? Festivus?

Nope.

“What’s so merry about it? I’ll tell you what Christmas is. It’s just another work day, and any jackanape who thinks else should be boiled in his own pudding!”

But you could out-Scrooge Ebenezer Scrooge, if you wished.

There’s no law against requiring people to show up for work bright-and-early Christmas morning. At least Bob Cratchit got the day off.

In fact, there are no state or federal laws that recognize specific holidays private employers must recognize and give people time off for.

Uncle Sam would be treading on thin ice if the federal government started telling private businesses what to do on specific religious holidays — something about the separation of church and state.

But not even the Grinch (while his heart was still two sizes too small) would deny employees permission to be absent from work on religious holidays.

Beware: You could be opening yourself to charges of religious discrimination, though, if you mark Christmas as a holiday — without providing similar time off for non-Christian employees.

Most private employers provide a list of paid holidays, usually published in an employee handbook.

It’s also a widely accepted practice that many people who work on Christmas or similar holidays can qualify for extra “holiday pay” — but that’s not a law, either.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires businesses to reasonably accommodate an employee’s religious faith and practices, unless doing so would create an undue hardship for the employer.

The solution for many businesses is to tuck an extra “floating holiday” into the schedule, one that non-Christians can use to mark significant religious times.

Employers — generally it’s Human Resources — must at least examine any employee request for a religious holiday.

It must be a legitimate — not “The Church of What’s Happening Now” — and a significant holiday within that faith.

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Workplace retaliation lawsuits now have outpaced traditional discrimination suits — racism, gender, disability, religion –  says the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

In 2011, damages paid for retaliation suits broke the $100 million mark and then some: $147 million, according to the EEOC.

That’s why it’s all the more critical for Human Resources managers to remind supervisors of the best ways to stay out these legal traps.

A three-step plan to help do just that:

1. Most training programs for employees focus on discrimination and harassment. The programs target the usual suspects — race and gender discrimination. Take a step back, though: Don’t most supervisors already know how to recognize harassment based on race or gender? In this day and age, that’s become pretty much a no-brainer. In addition to these timeworn topics, add a training element on the dangers of retaliation: What’s acceptable behavior — and what’s illegal?
2. Does your handbook explain retaliation or have a policy on retaliation? It’s an essential addition to the portion of the handbook that covers discrimination and harassment. It’s easier for supervisors and managers to grasp the concept if it’s written down and weighted equally with policies on discrimination.
3. Tread cautiously when disciplining an employee — and document, document, document. Just because someone has filed a discrimination complaint doesn’t mean they get a free pass on following other rules. If someone has become involved in a protected activity — like filing a bias complaint, being a whistleblower, etc. — document all you do. This includes logging the employee’s behavior, the rule(s) violated, any warnings on your part, and the employee’s reaction and behavior. Just knowing that you’ve documented every step of the way can be a strong deterrent against an employee accusing you of retaliation.

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Can you order a sick employee who is clearly battling a cold (or worse) to go home and take his or her germs with them?

Yes, you can.

Should you?

That question’s more difficult to answer.

Someone who’s hacking, sneezing, congested and going through tissues at the speed of sound can present a true problem in the office, even if he or she insists they’re not that sick and certainly well enough to work.

Wake up and smell the Vapor Rub.

Whether it’s a common cold, recurring allergies or even a touch of the flu, you have the right to manage your workforce.

It means you’re watching out for the people who are at work and feeling fine — for now.

It doesn’t matter to them if that sniffling co-worker says he’s “no longer contagious.”

Because there are generally no laws requiring businesses to provide paid time off, whether it’s vacation or sick days, this can be a thorny topic.

It doesn’t matter if someone declares he or she is fit for work, whatever the evident symptoms may be. Employers are not obliged to accommodate these situations.

Federal regs and rules — like the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and various state workers’ comp acts — make it clear employers are required to provide a safe and healthy environment.

Of course that doesn’t mean the feds will come knocking if you let an ailing worker come to work. Something like that isn’t a serious enough problem to draw their attention.

Send a sick employee home?

How far does an employer’s obligation extend in these situations? What if the person is indispensable?

There are certain jobs — like Sales or positions that require constant contact with the public — where your threshold is low for bumping someone out until they feel better.

Maybe there’s something that person can do temporarily that keeps them separated from the public (and co-workers) until the symptoms have passed.

What about flu season?

Can you require people to get flu shots?

Technically, employers can make flu vaccine shots mandatory for employees.

But you really don’t want it to go that far.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recommends a gentler approach.

Consider “encouraging” people to get the vaccine. It’s been effective for some businesses.

Why should you shy away from making flu vaccines mandatory?

It can take you into legal territory you’d probably choose to avoid. In some cases, you’d be afoul of state privacy laws. It could even be something that’s governed by a union contract.

You’d have to honor requests for accommodation, like if someone refuses to get the vaccine for religious reasons or due to medical sensitivities,

Better: Ask the person to wear a mask during flu season.

Better yet: Offer onsite flu shots for employees, at a steep discount. Your insurer and your CFO will love you for it.

Protecting healthy employees

Aside from flu shots, there are tactics you can apply in the workplace to help keep everyone healthier and more comfortable about their work environment.

Most viruses and diseases are transmitted through touch.

Ideas for limiting the risks:

• make hand sanitizer readily available and encourage people to use it (often)
• remind people to wash their hands frequently
• keep work areas clean
• use disinfecting wipes on keyboards and phones, and
• urge people to curb their coughs when they’re in common areas like lunchrooms, bathrooms, etc.

Finally, one of the most effective moves an employer can make is to offer wellness program(s) for people.

They can learn healthy habits; they can be encouraged and even rewarded for exercise or general participation; and it gives employees a convenient and easy way to be proactive about their own health.

The post Should you order a sick employee to go home? Yes, but … appeared first on HR Daily Report.

It’s become a growing problem.

Maybe it’s the holidays. Maybe it’s the economy. Maybe it’s simply that the opportunity presented itself.

It can even be an employee who believes you “owe” him, and the only way he’ll get it is on the sly.

Whatever the reason, the threat — and the damage — are real.

One out of 10 failed medium-sized to small-sized businesses blame theft for driving them into bankruptcy.

It also can hurt a company’s relationship with customers.

The most common form of theft was the misappropriation of inventory, cash and assets.

The impact can be devastating for a small business because most have smaller budgets and smaller margins.

It doesn’t take too much of a loss to rob a company of its ability to turn a profit.

What’s more, if someone is known to be walking away at quitting time with a little more than their paycheck and management doesn’t act, it can dangerously undermine morale among other people.

Battling back against shrinkage

For some businesses the answer might lie in more detailed surveillance. Easily concealed high-quality technical equipment can help flush out some problems.

There are several tactics businesses can employ to help address, prevent or reduce “internal shrinkage.”

• Spread the word. Help people realize that everyone’s livelihood is at stake if someone is stealing from the business. If they suspect there’s a problem, they should talk to a supervisor immediately.
• Keeping it under lock and key. There are some things — property and information — that should be kept under lock and key. It doesn’t matter if “we’re all friendly here.”
• Screening before hiring. Conduct a thorough background check on potential hires.
• What employees are responsible for. Be sure employees know that certain information — like passwords — are confidential and shouldn’t be shared. Period.

One final note: One warehouse operation had a consistently recurring problem with light bulbs that “walked away.”

It didn’t appear to be significant as much as it was an annoyance.

Still, it could leave Production in a jam if materials were needed but none were readily available.

Solution: The supervisor offered all employees the opportunity to buy the light bulbs at cost. It worked. People paid for light bulbs they needed, at a discount, and the light bulbs stopped walking away.

The post Why ‘shrinkage’ is a big problem — and what to do about it appeared first on HR Daily Report.

With Christmas and New Year’s both falling on Tuesday, many employers are offering people three days off, rather than the usual two.

Bloomberg BNA’s Year-End Holiday Practices Survey examines trends each year in how time off is allotted around the holidays.

For the past two years, the winter holidays fell on weekends. That meant that not as many employees were offered three days off.

The survey — which covered a broad range of public and private companies — also asked businesses about holiday work shifts and holiday gifts and bonuses.

Trending over the past three years:

• For the 2012-2013 holiday season, 58% of employers have scheduled (at least) three days off for worker.
• During the 2011-2012 holiday season, 42% scheduled at least three days, and
• During the 2010-2011 holiday season, 36% scheduled at least three days.

How is this time breaking down?

For starters, just more than half — 51% — of U.S. companies said they were planning to give employees a long weekend right off the bat by making Dec. 24 a holiday.

Manufacturing and non-manufacturing companies generally had different policies, with manufacturing employees being dealt and better hand.

• 85% of manufacturers are offering three (or more) days of paid time off.
• 52% of non-manufacturing companies, and
• 51% of non-business organizations (hospitals, government agencies, etc.)

Smaller is bigger:

• 65% of people who are part of small staffs (fewer than 1,000 employees) could see three or more days off, and
• 48% of employees for larger companies will share that benefit.

Are holiday gifts and bonuses an image fading in our collective rear-view mirrors?

Not for everyone.

Nearly half — 45% — of employers will distribute holiday bonuses and/or gifts this year, about the same as last year.

Bonus and gift giving bottomed out in 2009 at 33%.

At the other end of the spectrum, many workplaces and employees are involved in charitable endeavors around this time of the year.

• 63% of companies will sponsor charitable activities this year
• 40% will sponsor toy collections
• 37% will be involved in food collection and distribution
• 20% will sponsor clothing drives, and
• 16% will collect and distribute money.

Is your business involved in any charitable projects this holiday season? Please tell us about it by writing below.

The post Little extra in many employees’ stockings: 3rd day off appeared first on HR Daily Report.