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Ask Rita: How Do I Navigate Requests for Religious Exemptions from a Requirement to Receive the Covid-19 Vaccine?
Dear Rita, With availability of Covid-19 vaccines, we, like many employers, opted to implement a voluntary vaccine policy, along with strong incentives for and encouragement of employees to get vaccinated. Then, the effectiveness of the vaccine became …
Ask Rita: We Have Decided on an In-House Investigation—Now, How Do We Do It?
Last month, we discussed the factors to consider in making the decision to conduct a workplace investigation in-house, or to retain an outside investigator. If you decide that an in-house investigation is appropriate, this article is for you. Approachi …
Ask Rita: Workplace Discrimination Investigations–Do We Need to Hire an External Professional?
Dear Rita, We are a social service nonprofit that has, at this point, 35 employees. Until now, we have had a very good—some might say remarkable—history of maintaining good employee relations, with no complaints for discrimination or harassment in the …
Ask Rita: FFCRA Paid Leaves 2021—Help!
Dear Rita, In March of last year, when the pandemic hit, we spent a lot of time implementing the required Covid-19-related paid leaves of absence. We drafted leave forms and gave notice to our employees of the right to take these leaves, and we are ver …
Ask Rita: Recording Conversations in the Workplace—Do I Have to Put Up with This?
Dear Rita: We recently met with an employee who has had a long history of not performing their job responsibilities as expected and of showing reluctance to accept our guidance to improve and meet expectations. At this meeting, we planned to give the e …
Ask Rita: We Can Require Employees to Receive the Covid-19 Vaccine—But Should We?
Dear Rita, Our nonprofit has several employees who provide a variety of direct services personally to our clients, in our offices as well as other locations. We have taken great measures since the pandemic struck to protect both our clients and our emp …
Ask Rita: Can Our Paid Employees Also Do Volunteer Work for Us?
Dear Rita: We operate a nonprofit housing clinic for homeless persons. The pandemic, along with the holidays, has inspired some of our employees to inquire about doing extra work for us as volunteers. We don’t normally use volunteers. However, we appre …
Ask Rita: What Is a Hostile Work Environment?
How to handle use of the label when a protected class isn’t involved Dear Rita: I’m uncertain how to handle a growing trend among my employees. Whenever some of our employees are unhappy about the way things are going at work, they say they are working …
Ask Rita: How Can We Help Our Employee Care for Family During Covid-19?
Dear Rita: Our nonprofit has an employee who has been with us five years. She is a good worker who has always been able to balance work and personal needs well. Until the Covid-19 pandemic hit. This employee has three school-age children whose school c …
