It is our pleasure to extend a warm welcome to Kelcey Castro, who joins us as our Human Resources Manager. Kelcey brings with her a wealth of experience and an unwavering dedication to fostering inclusive and supportive workplace environments. With a robust background in HR, Kelcey excels in policy development, handbook creation, employee recruitment, and […]
HR Chronicles is a periodic look at real-life situations for which our HR experts have provided client guidance.
A Company’s objective is to maintain a drug and alcohol-free work environment that is safe and productive for Employees and others doing business with the Company. The use, possession, purchase, sale, distribution, or being under the influence of any narcotic substance and/or the misuse of legal drugs while on Company or client premises or while performing services for the Company is strictly prohibited and violates Workplace Safety standards.
Companies also prohibit employees from reporting to work or performing services under the influence of alcohol or consuming alcohol while on duty or during work hours. Companies prohibit off-premises abuse of alcohol and controlled substances, as well as the possession, use, or sale of narcotic substances, when these activities adversely affect job performance, job safety, or the any Company reputation in the community.
The concept of the term Reasonable Suspicion is a belief or hunch, that an Employee is under the influence of drugs and alcohol and is adversely affecting job performance.
The Employee poses a threat to themselves, others, or the Company. This evidence might come from observations made by co-workers, and information shared during meetings or training sessions.
A 45-year-old nurse has worked for the Hospital for three years, but you have been a supervisor for only six weeks. This morning, as you are making your “rounds”, you noticed the Employee was not walking straight and was muttering. You checked the patients’ records and you noticed the Employee is behind schedule.
You approached the Employee and asked how it is going. The Employee’s complexion was flushed, eyes were red and tearing.
When you asked the Employee again if there are any problems, the Employee looked at you and seemed unfocused. The Employee was distant and mumbled an incoherent response.
Ask the Employee to accompany you to your office or other private area. Ask if the Employee is okay; solicit a coherent verbal response. Identify and confront the Employee with your observations. Explain that a Reasonable Suspicion test will be conducted.
Reasonable Suspicion testing might be necessary. Both an alcohol and drug test maybe warranted since signs and symptoms are consistent with either drug or alcohol use.
If your company is experiencing similar issues, contact us for a confidential consultation. All employee-related matters will be help in the strictest confidence.
Karen Roche, our executive vice president of human resources and general counsel, leads the all-female HR department at CHR. With a client-centric focus and attention that goes above and beyond daily HR activities, Karen and her team—Kelcey Castro, HR manager, and Ivonne Wareka, HR coordinator—ensure each client who engages with them always feels strongly supported. […]
HR Chronicles is a periodic look at real-life situations for which our HR experts have provided client guidance.
An Employer had two Employees who started arguing aggressively and yelling in front of the other Employees in the workplace.
One of the Employees felt uncomfortable and physically threatened. The Manager was called and informed of the situation.
There are steps the Manager could take in a situation like this – some are more appropriate than others. The Manager can:
Depending on the severity of the altercation the Employer may choose to suspend both Employees (to be fair to both) pending investigation and investigate and collect all information/ details. The Manager should interview both individual’s and collect witness statements, then review all information and determine the type of disciplinary action to take.
In this case, the investigation determined:
A hostile work environment is one where the words and actions of a supervisor, manager or coworker negatively or severely impacts another employee’s ability to complete their work. Any employee can be responsible for creating a hostile work environment. Hostile words and actions include:
Important to note: The intended victim should make it clear to the harasser that the behavior is unwelcome and should stop.
If your company is experiencing similar issues, contact us for a confidential consultation. All employee-related matters will be help in the strictest confidence.
Please join us in welcoming Karen Ehrenberg as our Director of HRIS & Operations. In this role she will play a key behind-the-scenes role overseeing our HRIS and Payroll functions. Karen comes to CHR with considerable experience in the payroll and tax fields. She has developed and implemented payroll systems for small to large-scale enterprises. […]
Let’s streamline your talent acquisition process.
Busy HR professionals know that recruiting and hiring the best talent takes time and money. CHR’s Applicant Tracking System is designed to streamline the entire talent recruiting process with Automated job posting, Candidate communications, Custom screening questions, and Tag & keyword matching.
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On July 21, 2023, the USCIS gave employers a new option for verifying employment eligibility. Effective August 1, 2023, employers have an alternative procedure by which qualifying employers may inspect employees’ Form I-9 documentation virtually as opposed to performing a physical verification. This physical examination was required for all new hires until the COVID-19 exception […]
Federal employment law is about to give birth to some long-overdue requirements. As of June 27, 2023, employers with 15 or more employees must provide pregnancy-related accommodations to employees and applicants under the federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA). Below we will refer to employees and applicants collectively as “employees.” Pregnancy Related Accommodations Under the […]
Workplace harassment or discrimination is not limited to employees or direct victims of the act. Other people who can be affected by verbal, physical, or other harassment include anyone in the work environment who perceives the behavior as hostile. These may be co-workers who are sitting nearby and are bothered by it or a visitor […]
Sad to say, many people are victims or witnesses to workplace bullying. As defined by SHRM, workplace bullying is “repeated, health-harming mistreatment of one or more people by one or more perpetrators.” This persistent, pervasive, inappropriate behavior—direct or indirect—falls into several categories. What is workplace bullying behavior? Threats, intimidation, or humiliation Verbal abuse such as […]
