IN THIS ISSUE:

1. Feature Story: Why Bother Writing Job Descriptions?

2. Cathie's Corner: Disaster Recovery: Getting Back To Business

 
3. The Road To Discrimination May Be Paved With Good Intentions 

4. Free Report: Preventing Religious Discrimination And Harassment Claims In The Workplace

5. HR Soapbox: "It's All Your Fault, Mom!" 

AHI's We Couldn't Make This Up

What employees do on their own time is their own business, right? Most employers would reply in the affirmative, with this caveat: as long as the behavior is legal and doesn't embarrass the organization. Going for a morning jog doesn't seem like the type of behavior that would cause concern, but it did for one Catholic church in Colorado. The church placed a priest on administrative leave for jogging...naked! The robust priest claimed he sweats profusely if he wears clothes while running and didn't think anyone would see him so early in the morning.

1. FEATURE STORY:
WHY BOTHER WRITING JOB DESCRIPTIONS?

Writing job descriptions for all of the positions in your company may sound like a lot of work, especially when they are not required by any law. But there are plenty of legal reasons why you should have them.

1. Defend against discrimination claims. If an applicant claims that you rejected them because of their gender, race, etc., you can show a court that you rejected them because they did not meet all job qualifications.

You may be lucky enough to have a situation where multiple applicants meet the minimum qualifications for the job. So how do you break the tie? It is perfectly legal to base the decision on unwritten criteria, even a gut feeling. But it's better to base the decision on criteria that's already listed in the job description (which may not have been listed in the job ad).

2. Determine essential functions for Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) purposes. Employees must be able to perform essential job duties, with or without reasonable accommodation, in order to qualify for ADA protection.

3. Classify employees as exempt or non-exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Exempt status is not determined by job title alone; the key is actual job duties.

Having written job descriptions is all well and good — but only if they are accurate. The job description must match the reality of the job, not what management thinks the job entails or the lofty standards management would like it to entail. Requiring a Master's degree when a high school diploma will do may unfairly exclude applicants and lead to discrimination claims. Including a 75-pound lifting requirement when the job only requires lifting 25 won't stop an employee from qualifying for ADA protection. Giving managers the duties of hiring and firing employees on paper, but without giving them actual decision-making power, could qualify them for overtime pay as a non-exempt employee under the FLSA.

The best-written job descriptions include:

• Regularly performed job duties. It is more important to list what must be performed and accomplished than how, if there is more than one way to do it. Being too specific on how to accomplish a duty could lead to ADA issues when an employee asks for an accommodation.
• Periodic duties. Include frequency and importance. Just because a duty is not performed regularly does not mean it is not essential. For example, you may want your IT personnel to be able to handle a server crashing, even if it doesn't happen very often.
• Minimum qualifications for education, experience, etc.
• Performance standards (e.g., sales quotas, words per minute).
• Working conditions. It is necessary to indicate unusual conditions, such exposure to extreme temperatures or to chemicals.

If you don't want to bother writing job descriptions, AHI has done the work for you. You can find pre-written job descriptions, job ads, interview questions, plus a guide for determining the exemption status for over 200 jobs online.

2. CATHIE'S CORNER:
DISASTER RECOVERY: GETTING BACK TO BUSINESS

Last week I covered the importance of having off-site computer backups, or at least some form of backup that could survive a computer crash. A friend reminded me recently that that is only the first step. Her firm is currently putting together a disaster recovery plan, and it's far more complex than just backing up computer files. Fire, flood, wind…there isn't a region of the country that isn't subject to some potential form of meteorological disaster, and there are a number of possible factors to deal with...Continue the story. 

Catherine Bannon is an HR consultant in Marshfield, MA (catherine.bannon@gmail.com). Bannon worked for 10 years in HR management before starting her consulting practice.

3. THE ROAD TO DISCRIMINATION MAY BE PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS

A good manager treats employees with consideration and willingly provides resources to help them do their jobs. But it's possible for a manager to overstep his/her bounds and provide too much "help"...Continue the story.

4. FREE REPORT

Check out the Free Report, "Preventing Religious Discrimination And Harassment Claims In The Workplace," which gives you a concise overview of employer obligations under Title VII. Plus, get ideas for accommodating employees' requests to observe the Sabbath and pray during the workday.

5. HR SOAPBOX:
"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT, MOM!"

A new book theorizes that if you're having troubles at work, mom might be to blame. The Mother Factor: How Your Mother's Emotional Legacy Impacts Your Life, by Dr. Stephan B. Poulter, Ph.D., suggests that the way we connect emotionally in adult relationships, including workplace interactions, is based on the "style" of our moms...Continue the story.