December 13, 2016
Beth was usually a reliable employee, but recently she seemed less focused, even if she was still getting her job done. The news of her husband’s cancer had hit her hard, and it looked like he might need some pretty extensive care. Even though Beth had been Dr. Spencer’s office manager for 10 years, he…
October 14, 2016
“She’s Not My Employee…Right?” Why Joint Employment is One Big Problem Recently, the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) updated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) with expanded guidance on joint employment. These new rules could have major impacts on your liability and bottom line! While you may not consider someone your employee,…
July 6, 2016
More and more frequently, employees ask for and value the opportunity to work remotely from home—and in many ways, technology is making working from home increasingly convenient. Call forwarding systems can make calls made from personal cell phones look like they are coming from your office. Additionally, computer programs such as LogMeIn allow employees to…
May 2, 2016
Four Simple Rules for Controlling Risks and Costs Companies often offer their employees discounts on their products, and this much-appreciated benefit tends to lower turnover and increase employee satisfaction. But how do dental and medical offices give their employees an in-house treatment benefit without running afoul of employment and labor laws? Additionally, many doctors are…
May 2, 2016
Love Gone Wrong: Preventing Office Romance and Workplace Fraternization Issues Lately, you’ve noticed something different about two of your employees. It started with the little smiles they exchanged throughout the day, then moved on to flirtatious teasing. Now, you realize that there’s an office romance brewing right under your nose. It’s obvious that love is…
December 11, 2015
Why “Three Strikes” Employee Discipline Policies Don’t Work, and What to Use Instead Just like umpires on the baseball field, employers are constantly making hard calls about employee performance. What level of corrective action is necessary if an employee has a huge swing and a miss? What if they don’t even try to hit the…
September 21, 2015
What Not to Wear, Workplace Edition Do you forbid your team to wear blue jeans while at work? What about blue fingernails…or blue hair? Or maybe you have policies that discuss tattoos, piercings, jewelry, or headwear. As anyone who has ever managed a team of employees knows, getting everyone to conform to the desired “look”…
August 7, 2015
HIPAA. It elicits groans across the healthcare industry. But as a healthcare employer, you must stay up to date in your training and compliance efforts. This applies to ALL medical AND dental practices! All too often, HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) gets treated as just one more thing you have to worry…
July 8, 2015
When employees complain, smart employers listen. I know, the last thing most employers want in their office is a lot of complaining, and we understand the desire to tune it out! But we also know that the only way to solve a problem, and solve it early, before it gets big, complicated, and expensive, is…
June 8, 2015
The legalization of marijuana for medical or recreational use is a legal trend that is sweeping the country. Do you know how these marijuana laws impact you and your employees? Almost 50% of states have some law legalizing medical usage, and as of early 2015, four states have legalized it for recreational use (Colorado, Oregon,…