You are browsing: Workplace Policies
The Importance of Self-care as Self-defense to Nonprofits
Nonprofit organizations are givers: we recruit like-minded staff and volunteers who give and give until they are spent. All too often burnout leads to poor performance and high staff turnover. However, reframing self-care as self-defense can help us to …
Ensuring Dogs and Cats Get Equal Scratch in Decision-making
Are you a dog or a cat person? I don’t mean your preference for a pet. If you show up to a meeting barking and clawing to make your point, you might be a dog person. If you lay back during the decision-making process but circle back to pee on outcomes …
7 Guiding Principles for a JDEI Policy That Isn’t Just Hot Air. Plus, a Free Sample Policy!
For those who have spent the better part of their careers working on equity issues, recent events have been wrenching–and cause for hope: the Black Lives Matter movement is finally entering the mainstream. But just like those obligatory corporate envir …
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 …
#RiskyBusiness: Don’t Let Internal Controls Slip at Your Nonprofit Organization!
Nonprofit organizations are more vulnerable than ever to fraud or errors in the organization’s financial statements. With employees, management, and board members focused on helping people in the communities the nonprofit serves, time and attention to …
Practical Guide to How Nonprofits Can Create Equity in Organizations and Community
In May 2020, when Black Lives Matter protests ignited by the murder of George Floyd erupted across the country, many organizations started becoming more aware of the need to challenge racism and to encourage racial equity in their own spaces. At Race F …
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 …
Re-Opening After Covid-19: What Nonprofits Need to Know about Reasonable Accommodation of Employees with Disabilities
Although the number of Covid-19 cases varies throughout the United States, nonprofit leaders are undoubtedly eager to re-open organizations and get back to business. While many continue to allow some staff to work remotely, others choose to or must hav …
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 …
