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Ask Rita: US Supreme Court Granted New Protection for LGBTQ+ Employees—What Do We Need to Know?
Dear Rita: Our nonprofit is in a state that does not recognize protections for gay, lesbian, or transgender workers. What do we need to do now that the Supreme Court has decided this is a new protected class of workers? Signed, Trying to Do the Right T …
Ask Rita: During Covid-19, Do We Furlough or Layoff Staff?
Dear Rita: During the Covid-19 crisis, we are having to close some programs, hopefully temporarily. I need your help understanding the difference between a layoff and a furlough. Signed, Sheltering-in-Place, but Challenged Dear Challenged: These are in …
Ask Rita: When Is Work Time Too Small To Count?
Dear Rita: I hear the devil is in the details, but I’m wondering just how mired in minutia our nonprofit needs to get. We operate a few thrift stores in different locations and all our employees record their time on a computerized payroll system. When …
Ask Rita: Employees Who Cross Jurisdictions: Which Law Applies?
Dear Rita: Our Northern California nonprofit provides job coaches to clients in the community. Our job coaches work in different cities during the course of a week and potentially in the same day. I know some of these cities have their own minimum wage …
Ask Rita: Is it Legal to Require Nonprofit Employees to Donate Gifts?
Dear Ask Rita in HR: In order to foster a culture of giving, my nonprofit organization requires employees to give an annual gift each year. While I agree that we should support the work of our organization, I object to the idea that I am forced to dona …
Ask Rita in HR: How Do I Stay ADA Compliant When an Employee Has a Disability?
Dear Rita in HR: One of our employees recently disclosed a medical condition that limits his ability to perform some of his duties. His manager wanted to fire him because he can no longer perform his job, but I don’t think we can do that. I handle acco …
Outdated Job Description May be Getting Us in Trouble
Dear Rita: Help! I’m the executive director of a nonprofit with 35 employees. Recently, one of our employees said he can’t drive anymore due to vision problems. It’s his job to drive to different client sites to provide training . . . we serve a rural …
How Do You Count Employees… to Determine Which Laws Apply?
Dear Rita: We are a small nonprofit that provides summer day camps for youth. We have 6 full-time employees, and hire about 40 or so seasonal workers who staff our summer camps. We also hire a few administrative workers through a temporary agency to he …
Ask Rita in HR: Do we really have to do performance evaluations?
Dear Rita: I just started as the first HR Manager for an environmental nonprofit that has grown to 65 employees, although at least 35 of them are summer staff. I was somewhat shocked to discover that there are no performance evaluations in the files! W …
Are Social Workers Exempt or Nonexempt? Help!
Dear Rita in HR: Should social workers be classified as exempt or nonexempt? In the process of updating our job descriptions I have looked at many from other agencies and am confused in particular about one issue: in some cases social workers are class …