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Ask Rita: Are My Independent Contractors Actually Employees?
Dear Rita: I’m the HR manager of a nonprofit that provides music education and therapy services to underprivileged and disabled young people. We have 15 people who provide our services, all of whom are professional musicians and teachers in our local c …
Reducing Unconscious Bias in Recruiting
Ideally, the decision to hire someone is based on how well someone’s skill set aligns with your needs. But in the real world, hiring processes are often subjective and affected by some degree of bias…whether you know it or not. Bias—prejudice in …
Ask Rita: What Are My Obligations to an Employee Receiving Infertility Treatments?
Dear Rita: We have an employee who has been trying to start a family for a long time. We have recently been advised that the female employee may be starting treatment for infertility and may need to take time off for those treatments. We are wondering …
How to Hire Great Nonprofit Leaders
We’re all familiar with great leaders. From popular culture to UN council meetings, to articles about CEO’s, images are emblazoned in our minds. They are great champions on the big screen, in the boardroom, and in the oval o …
Ask Rita: How Do We Handle A Whistleblower?
Dear Rita: I have some concerns about a report I just received from one of the employees in our accounting department, which indicates that our Chief Financial Officer may be engaged in some “accounting tricks.” While not a CPA, the repor …
Sample Whistleblower Policy
Below is a sample nonprofit whistleblower policy. You can also download it here: Sample Whistleblower Policy [Nonprofit] encourages its employees to report improper activities in the workplace and will protect employees from retali …
Ask Rita: How Do We Handle Harassment by an Outsider?
Dear Rita: Yesterday, our front office receptionist reported to me that one of our vendors—the person who stocks the vending machines in our break room—made several sexually charged comments to her, came very close to her face, and touched her hair. Cl …
Ask Rita: Health Benefits for Employees on FMLA Leave?
Dear Rita; With our last series of hires, our growing nonprofit topped 50 staff and became a Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”)-covered employer. We think we know how to properly designate leave as FMLA and navigate the required procedures when an e …
Remote Team Environments: A How-To Primer
According to the 2018 NTEN Digital Adoption Report, 41% of nonprofit staff telecommute, work from home, or do much of their work outside the office. And this trend is only growing. Remote teams may seem really exciting due to lower overhead, the promis …
Ask Rita: Is Terminating an At-Will Employee Risk-Free?
Dear Rita: We are considering terminating an employee who has been with us for two years, but we’re concerned we may be at risk if we do. She’s 50 years old and has a hearing disability. She is a nice person but while her performance is okay, she has n …
