IN THIS ISSUE:

1. Feature Story:
Inadvertent Evaluation Mistakes To Consciously Avoid

2. Cathie's Corner: Do Your Company's Policies Support Employees Who Perform Their Civic Duty?

3. Standard UI Practices Help Keep UI Liability Under Control

Share The Knowledge: Forward this newsletter to a colleague.

Subscribe to AHI's Free E-Mail Newsletters: • HR Soapbox • Benefits Alert • Employment Law Today View samples and subscribe by visiting our website.

1. FEATURE STORY:
INADVERTENT EVALUATION MISTAKES TO CONSCIOUSLY AVOID

As the song says, "It's the most wonderful time of the year." That is, unless you're a manager preparing to conduct annual performance evaluations. Just the idea of critiquing employee performance is enough to make some managers' hearts race, palms sweat, and heads throb.

Wanting to overcome this feeling of panic can result in managers unknowingly succumbing to performance evaluation traps, which tend to make the process albeit "easier," but certainly not beneficial to the employee, or, in some cases, not even legal!

Give your managers the gift of knowing what to be conscious of not doing this evaluation season.

Trap #1: Using stereotypes, rather than first-hand observations, e.g., rating male employees higher than female employees in leadership skills based on gender alone.

Trap #2: Letting personal feelings influence the assessment, e.g., rating employees favorably because they are friendly with the manager outside of work; rating employees poorly because they've previously butted heads with the manager.

Trap #3: Inflating the ratings of poor performers. Some managers assume an inflated rating will motivate employees to improve their behavior. Others do so to avoid having a confrontation.

Trap #4: Equating long tenure with positive performance. An assumption that an employee has been with the company for a long time because they are a good worker can be erroneous.

Trap #5: Failing to explain reasons for the ratings. An evaluation with no comment fields completed is unacceptable. So, too, are comments that aren't specific.

Trap #6: Making backhanded compliments. Think of Sen. Joe Biden "complimenting" Sen. Barack Obama: "You got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy."

Trap #7: Interpreting motives behind behavior instead of just stating the behavior, e.g., "Shane isn't committed to the job. That's why he was late to work 21 times."

Knowing what not to do is only the first step. Give your managers all the tools they need to confidently tackle the performance appraisal process by signing them up for AHI's live web conference, How To Conduct Motivating And Legally-Sound Performance Appraisals, to be held on January 3, 2008.

2. CATHIE'S CORNER:
DO YOUR COMPANY'S POLICIES SUPPORT EMPLOYEES WHO PERFORM THEIR CIVIC DUTY?

Currently, I am the only member of my household not scheduled for jury duty this month. My husband goes next week; my stepdaughter, who does not live with us but who is still registered to vote in this county, is scheduled for two weeks from now. When I pointed out to her that if she wanted to, she could probably get out of it by explaining that she now lives in a neighboring county, she shrugged and said, "I'll go — it's a day off from work."

In her case, it's a paid day off from work. While in most cases only exempt employees are paid for time off for jury duty (assuming that they are not off for an entire workweek), in a small handful of states, including ours (Massachusetts), even a non-exempt employee must be paid for at least part of the time they spend performing their civic duty.

While paying employees technically may not be an HR function, when I mentioned this discussion to a friend of mine who also happens to be one of the most knowledgeable Payroll people I know, she was not aware that any states required paid jury duty time for non-exempt employees. And it is a function of HR to see that all employment laws are followed. So when a non-exempt employee comes to you with their jury duty notice, you might want to take a quick look at your state's laws to see if your state has any requirements that employees be paid for part or all of the time, and make sure that Payroll is aware of it.

You'll need to have the same awareness starting in a few weeks when the presidential primaries and caucuses start. More than half the states require that an employee be given time off to vote, and in many of those states, that time off must be paid. Now, I grant you, these laws are all over the map. The employee may or may not have to request the time off in advance. The employee may or may not have to present proof of voting. The law may or may not apply if the employee has a certain number of hours available to vote while the polls are open, with some states only indicating "reasonable time." In at least one state, the amount of time off is determined by the distance between the employee's workplace and the polling place. In many if not most states the employer controls when during the shift the time can be taken, so work with your supervisors on scheduling time. The primaries in many states are earlier for this election than they usually are, so be sure you're up to date on current laws in your state (and any other states where you may have employees) and that Payroll and your managers/supervisors are also aware of legal requirements where they are. Keep track of this information so that it's available again come November and the national election

While the law does not require that you do so, I strongly encourage all of you to, in turn, encourage your employees to get out and vote. Who they vote for is up to them; the important thing is that they exercise what is one of the most important rights they have. And that goes for jury duty as well. Make it as easy as possible for your employees to perform their civic duty, and we all win!

Catherine Bannon is an HR consultant in Marshfield, MA (catherine.bannon@gmail.com). Bannon worked for 10 years in HR management before starting her consulting practice.

STANDARD UI PRACTICES HELP KEEP UI LIABILITY UNDER CONTROL

Although unemployment laws vary by state, the general rule of thumb is that employees who quit are not eligible to collect, while employees who are fired, can. There are, of course, exceptions to every rule...View the full story on our website.

FREE REPORT

Check out the Free Report, "Turning Negativity Into 'Positivity'," which provides strategies for encouraging job satisfaction; suggestions for dealing with negative employees; and steps for preventing a negative attitude from becoming a legal issue.  You also get a sample behavior-at-work policy, and an employee satisfaction survey to measure your employees' satisfaction at work.