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Ask Rita: When Do I Initiate the ADA Interactive Process with a (Possibly) Disabled Employee?
Dear Rita, I am the HR manager for a nonprofit agency that has 21 employees. One of our employees has been a great performer in the four years they’ve been with us. Their job involves primarily clerical duties. Recently, we’ve noticed this employee has …
Ask Rita: Religious Exemptions from Regular Work Duties—What Am I to Do?
Dear Rita, I am the HR Manager in a medium-sized nonprofit of about 30 employees. We are a social services organization, and among other things, we actively participate in food distribution to people in need around the holidays. Recently, one of our ne …
Ask Rita: My Employee Has Been “No Call, No Show” for Three Days—Why Isn’t This a Resignation?
Dear Rita, Our nonprofit has an employee who has been very reliable over the three years of their employment with us. Since this individual has an important role in the administrative functions of our operation, even absences planned well in advance ca …
Ask Rita: How Do We Handle a Supervisor Whose Way of Treating Employees Is Causing Them to Quit?
Dear Rita, Last year we hired a senior-level employee to fill a role that had previously been like a revolving door. This employee has done good work for us all along, in a position serving an important function in our organization. As a result, …
Ask Rita: An Employee Took Our Confidential Information for Their Own Personal Use and Won’t Give it Back—What Can We Do?
Dear Rita, We’re in a disturbing situation that we never had to deal with before. Our agency generates a considerable amount of intellectual property and computer data that we designate as proprietary and confidential. Recently, it became necessary to …
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?
We want to discipline an employee for an unauthorized recording of our conversations. What are our options?