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Human Resources/Questions Answered by Expert Lesa Hammond, PhD
| Subject | Date Asked |
| navigating HR channels | 8/10/2011 |
| Q: Good afternoon Dr. Hammond, Thank you for volunteering your time on All Experts. A little over ... A: It might be best to contact the department manager directly. If you do not know the current ... | |
| am i rehireable | 8/6/2011 |
| Q: A: Drawing unemployment from a company does not stop you from being rehired. However, as you explain ... | |
| Promotion | 7/15/2011 |
| Q: I work for nonprofit, catholic health organization. From 2005 to 2008, I had the manager from hell. ... A: Although you can see an attorney to get a legal opinion, from what you describe this it does not ... | |
| Exempt employee | 6/20/2011 |
| Q: Exempt employee does not have PTO balance, are we allowed to NOT dock pay? A: There is no law saying that you are required to dock pay, however you could create a situation of ... | |
| parts pick up and deliveries | 6/11/2011 |
| Q: We have a new policy that requires us now clock out and then at a later time my time will be ... A: I don't think it would be difficult for you to prove that you were still working if you were in a ... | |
| How to write the right rehire letter? | 6/10/2011 |
| Q: I was working for big cruise lines corporation as a waitress. I worked for 2 contracts, though I had ... A: If you still know people at the company, I suggest picking up the phone and giving them a call. Tell ... | |
| Relating To HR | 6/9/2011 |
| Q: Greetings Sir, My name is Raghu Raj Sharma and I am 25 years old. I have done my MSc in Human ... A: Getting your first job in any field can be difficult. There is no one right way to get the job. The ... | |
| termination | 5/6/2011 |
| Q: Last week I was terminated from my job of 7 years. The termination occurred outside of the ... A: A lot of small organizations have no idea of labor law. I think you can write a simple letter elling ... | |
| HR Coordinator as a volunteer position | 5/4/2011 |
| Q: I am a lay leader at my church, which also operates a grade school. The staff currently consists of ... A: You might want to request a Pro Bono HR Consultant instead of a Volunteer HR Director. I don't know ... | |
| Info about compliance | 4/9/2011 |
| Q: I am about to start my career in HR but I don't have any formal degree. What should I do in order ... A: Congratulations on your new career. There are many resources for gaining knowledge of all areas of ... | |
| Employee accused of theft | 4/6/2011 |
| Q: We are a small business in Tulsa, OK. We fabricate and install granite products. One of our ... A: No, you should never give the personal contact information of a current or former employee to an ... | |
| How to approach a diifficult situation | 3/10/2011 |
| Q: I need your help on how to approach the following. A position, that is of interest to me, may ... A: Your cover letter is good. I would make one small but significant change. I would not start the ... | |
| How to approach a diifficult situation | 2/25/2011 |
| Q: I need your help on how to approach the following. A position, that is of interest to me, may ... A: Yes, that is a touchy situation. People are so different that there is no one right method of doing ... | |
| hr experience | 2/24/2011 |
| Q: i am currently a 20 year old student at a university going for a healthcare administration degree ... A: Why not just apply for an HR job in the healthcare industry? Apply for HR jobs in hospitals, ... | |
| After Hours calls | 2/23/2011 |
| Q: I work part time ( under 30 hrs a week) for a non profit church as an Adm Asst. My boss ... A: Different states have different laws regarding What he is doing is a violation of labor law. Given ... | |
| educational discrimination for promotion | 2/9/2011 |
| Q: I currently work as a classified employee for a state institute. About three years ago, I was ... A: This is an interesting question and does not have an easy answer. There can be educational ... | |
| Regard | 1/15/2011 |
| Q: Let me start with my educational background... I am a computer science engineer from India, worked ... A: I get similar questions to this one quite a bit. In truth, having an MBA is only a bonus. It is not ... | |
| what should i do? | 1/12/2011 |
| Q: i am Tahir from Karachi (Pakistan) recently i have done my Masters (MAS) Masters in Administrative ... A: Study for and take the PHR exam and apply for jobs. You can certainly apply for management jobs, cut ... | |
| Hostile Work Environment/Stress | 1/7/2011 |
| Q: I work for a company that has gone downhill in the 3 1/2 years I have been there. I was wondering if ... A: Unless you uniquely fit into a protected class or have recently filed a grievance, although I am not ... | |
| Emp change status but not lower PTO | 1/5/2011 |
| Q: I just started at a company that changed their PTO policy a year ago. They did away with sick time ... A: With sick leave, vacation and PTO there are often state regulations. It would not be prudent to take ... | |
| insubordination | 6/1/2010 |
| Q: Hammond This is a question on a real problem I had. I am the lab director of a company, recently I ... A: I apologize for the delay in responding, I have had a family emergency. Your letter seems ... | |
| Hostile Work Environment | 5/14/2010 |
| Q: Hammond- I am in a very precarious position at work. I work for a very small firm where the only ... A: You probably are not going to like what I am going to tell you. There is no law against bad ... | |
| rehire status | 5/14/2010 |
| Q: My former employer set my rehire status to "eligible rehire except for management. I am a nurse and ... A: There should be a reason why your manager said you are "eligible rehire except for management." If ... | |
| Pre-employment screening | 5/7/2010 |
| Q: Lesa My question is reguarding to pre-employment background screening. This would be for the state ... A: The rule is that a conviction is not the sole basis for rejecting a candidate. There are no ... | |
| Salaried Vacation Pay | 5/5/2010 |
| Q: My question is when an employee that is salaried chooses to take vacation pay rather than time off, ... A: Your first calculation is correct. If you know that the person has 80 hours of vacation and they ... | |
| HRM | 5/4/2010 |
| Q: could you tell me please that When conducting a background investigation on an applicant, which one ... A: Is this a multiple choice question or are you asking generally? There is no standard regarding what ... | |
| Retribution | 5/3/2010 |
| Q: I am a Finance/Accounting manager for a company in Nashville, TN. Late in 2009, our Division ... A: I suggest you file a grievance for retaliation. This will prompt an investigation that will have to ... | |
| Wages | 5/2/2010 |
| Q: I live in New Jersey-last year I took a job with the Board of Education in my town as a sub-aide.I ... A: This has unfortunately become a very common question, and the disturbing answer appears to be yes. ... | |
| can I ask about judgments in an interview? | 3/13/2010 |
| Q: I am currently interviewing applicants for a position that involves the collection of money and the ... A: The position is a sensitive one and you have a right to ask any question about information you ... | |
| Degree Discrimination | 2/17/2010 |
| Q: A couple of years ago, I interviewed for a position where the person before me was downsized. I was ... A: In these tough economic times, it is very important to pick your battles. If you feel that you have ... | |
| No rehire policy | 2/13/2010 |
| Q: I was with a large company for 16 years and had an outstanding work record and received awards for ... A: Generally when a company has a no rehire policy there is not much you can do. You can certainly ... | |
| Job Offer | 2/13/2010 |
| Q: I received a recent job offer from an organization, and am very excited about the potential ... A: Despite the fact that most employers expect people to negotiate for a slightly higher salary, it is ... | |
| Employer only paid 1/2 my salary | 2/6/2010 |
| Q: I have been working for the same company for 5 years. Recently they have fallen on hard times. When ... A: You do have a serious problem. Once your employer misses payroll or offers a partial payroll it is a ... | |
| Nosey Employer/ILLNESS | 2/4/2010 |
| Q: I work at a childcare center. Occasionally an employee has to call in sick.1: We are asked what our ... A: You are right, it is hard to find information specifically addressing this issue, because to my ... | |
| Employee Performance | 2/2/2010 |
| Q: I have an employee that normally has a loud threatening voice which others take it that she is being ... A: This is a very complicated issue. When you characterize her voice as normally "threatening" that is ... | |
| Typical Increase Moving from Non-Exempt to Exempt | 2/2/2010 |
| Q: Lesa Hammond, I was recently promoted at work, and brought from a non-exempt status to exempt ... A: Bob, It may seem odd, but it is very common for non-exempt employees who receive an hourly wage ... | |
| Question about Vacation & PTO | 1/6/2010 |
| Q: Is it legal for an employer to regulate who has to track PTO and Vacation time? An employer I know ... A: What is fair and what is legal are two very different questions. Laws around PTO and vacation are ... | |
| Holiday pay for part time employees and privacy question for employee | 1/6/2010 |
| Q: I had two quick questions. #1; Are part time employees supposed to get holiday pay if their ... A: #1 There are no regulations in California that companies have to pay holiday pay. Therefore, it is ... | |
| Hostile work environment | 12/27/2009 |
| Q: I started working for a company in August 2009. I was never really trained properly, plus two of us ... A: It is clear that you are not happy, and it sounds like you are being required to do things beyond ... | |
| Bonus Payback. | 12/18/2009 |
| Q: I recently terminated my employment voluntarily from a company. When I started 6 months ago I ... A: Regarding the signing bonus, I assume you signed a contract that stated you would repay the signing ... | |
| hr | 12/14/2009 |
| Q: I have a situation where the cpa of our company is getting involve in the human resources, that is ... A: This is actually quite common, because HR, Payroll and Finance are closely connected, the lines ... | |
| please review and advice | 12/8/2009 |
| Q: I need this job. How to effectively reply to brush-off like that? Thank you for considering ... A: At this point, your best response is no response. Once a hiring manager decides not to hire you, you ... | |
| Terminology | 12/2/2009 |
| Q: I am Anatoly and I am from Ukraine. I want to understand which term is used in businesses for ... A: Anatoly, There is no standard protocol for titles in the U.S. Acting or Interim are often used ... | |
| Sick leave for an exempt employee | 11/28/2009 |
| Q: I am an exempt employee. I was sick Mon-Wed, came in and worked Thursday and Friday and then was ... A: Let me start with your second question. Exempt employees are not entitled to overtime at all. The ... | |
| Human Resources | 11/27/2009 |
| Q: I had emailed a complaint about my boss to human resources about my work hours. The president of ... A: Your boss's warning after such a complaint would generally be considered retaliation. My many years ... | |
| Hourly employee offered piecework pay | 11/22/2009 |
| Q: I am a normally hourly employee in a service industry. My employer has asked us to sign/acknowledge ... A: I have never heard of this practice either. It may be legal, as long as it doesn't violate any state ... | |
| part time-unemployment eligibility? | 11/18/2009 |
| Q: Due to the economy we need to change our 3 employees from full time to part time. Will they be ... A: Unfortunately, I cannot answer many of your questions because they are state labor code specific. ... | |
| Laid off | 11/17/2009 |
| Q: Can a company lay off you off and then hire one of their family memberd to replace you? A: While yours is a short question, the answer is complicated. It depends on many things. Did they ... | |
| Harrassment | 11/9/2009 |
| Q: i have 2 questions my first question is. My boyfriend was fired for hear say for sexual harassment ... A: Regarding the false accusation and lack of promotion: First, let me say, you will have a difficult ... | |
| Retribution in the Workplace | 10/31/2009 |
| Q: I recently brought up a complaint to my HR office. We had a teleconference with the Manager, Asst ... A: Depending on the size of your company, you have a few options. Since I don't know the size of your ... | |
| Unemployment Insurance | 10/28/2009 |
| Q: I have held two part time jobs in CA for several years. One has recently ended and I am now hoping ... A: Depending on how much you make from your second part-time job, you may not be entitled to ... | |
| Human Resources | 10/28/2009 |
| Q: Can you "force" an exempt employee to travel? We have a business need and the employee is refusing ... A: You can certainly make travel a part of the employee's job. You might want to look at why the ... | |
| unfair termination | 10/27/2009 |
| Q: My 24 arrangements. old son works four 10 hr. days and was told a day ahead of time that they were ... A: When you say he plans to fight it, I don't know exactly what that means. If you are asking if he ... | |
| Alarm calls on days off | 10/26/2009 |
| Q: my boyfriends work is not open on sundays.. the alarm went off and he was called in. he isnt on the ... A: When I receive a question from someone other than the person who is in the situation, I always have ... | |
| Research in HR | 10/16/2009 |
| Q: I have done MBA in HR. Now I wish to pursue Ph.D. and want to take a topic like 'Garbage management ... A: It sounds like you might be interested in a Ph.D. in Public Policy or Public Administration. Look up ... | |
| volunteering | 10/15/2009 |
| Q: Can an employeer ask their employees to disclose volunteer work they perform outside of work? These ... A: Yes, there are very good reasons why an employer might ask you to disclose volunteer work. Even ... | |
| Salary Overpayment and Taxes | 10/12/2009 |
| Q: Lesa, I received a letter from my former employer indicating that they had overpaid me by about ... A: While payroll per se is not my area of expertise, I checked with a colleague who is an expert. Her ... | |
| Question regarding employees' attendance | 10/12/2009 |
| Q: Our employees have been with us for a very long time and they are used to coming late. Our office ... A: Many organizations are very strict about the time employees start work. If your organization was ... | |
| elimination of jobs | 10/11/2009 |
| Q: what is the reason of elimination of jobs in United States? A: While I am neither an economist nor a financial analyst, I have an opinion on this topic. American ... | |
Human Resources
Answers by Expert:
Lesa Hammond, PhD
Top Expert on this page
Expertise
I can answer any questions about all areas of human resources, particularly in the areas of labor code investigation and requirements (I don't give legal advice), best practices, diversity in the workplace, California workplace, hiring, terminations, performance issues, etc. I am very happy to answer all types of questions if I know the answer. However, please do not ask me homework questions.
Experience
Lesa Hammond is a human resources professional, management consultant, trainer, and writer. She has over 20 year of experience in Human Resources, Organizational Development, Training and Management Consulting. She is currently the Assistant Vice President of Human Resources at Mills College. She is recently migrated to a blog from the internet column Ask Dr. Lesa. Known for her exceptional coaching in career transition, she has appeared on radio talk shows as a guest and has been interviewed for several articles in Black Enterprise magazine. Lesa has taught professional development classes at San Jose State University, conducted workshops at The Ohio State University, and presented in Public Programs at the California Institute of Integral Studies. She has consulted with companies throughout the United States including: AT&T, Ashland Chemical, The State of Ohio, EDD (Education Development Department), and Kaiser Permanente. Lesa holds a Bachelors degree in Sociology, a Masters degree in Human Resources, and a Ph.D. in Transformative Learning and Change.
Organizations
Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM)
College and University Professional Association - HR (CUPA)
Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC)
Northern California Human Resources Association (NCHRA)
Education/Credentials
Ph.D. - California Institute of Integral Studies - Transformative Learning
M.P.A - Golden Gate University - Human Resources
B.A - The Ohio State University - Sociology and Criminal Justice
Past/Present Clients
Lesa has taught professional development classes at San Jose State University, conducted workshops at The Ohio State University, and presented in Public Programs at the California Institute of Integral Studies. She has consulted with companies throughout the United States including: AT&T, Ashland Chemical, The State of Ohio, EDD (Education Development Department), and Kaiser Permanente. Lesa holds a Bachelors degree in Sociology, a Masters degree in Human Resources, and a Ph.D. in Transformative Learning and Change.
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