Reference no: EM133042862

1. Describe the legal position of both parties to an employment contract when an employer wishes to make an amendment after the employee has started work.

2. What are some of the benefits of conducting regular employee performance appraisals?

3. What steps can an employer take to ensure that its policy manual becomes and remains part of the employment contract?

4. What is condonation? How can it be avoided?

5. Workplace romances, even where they are consensual relationships between co-workers, can create some difficult issues in the workplace. From a strictly legal perspective, employers may want to discourage workplace romances, but from a practical point of view it is virtually impossible to prevent them. Discuss some of the risks that a workplace romance poses from various perspectives-to the couple involved, to co-workers, and to the employer. Is a policy on workplace romances a good idea? If so, what should it include? Are there any disadvantages to having such a policy?

6. The employer is a college whose campus has several establishments that serve alcohol, such as pubs and bars. If an employee consumes alcohol during lunch at one of the campus bars and then returns to work and injures someone or gets into an accident, would the employer bear the responsibility for any resulting loss or damages? Explain your answer.

7. After several verbal warnings about her lack of time management skills, Bev was placed on a PIP that outlined detailed performance objectives and provided timelines for fulfilling those objectives. The PIP was framed as a "last chance agreement," and Bev was aware that her job was in jeopardy when she signed it-without improvement, she would be terminated. The PIP called for several managers to work with her to help her improve her performance. It was a busy time of year, however, and the managers did not follow up until several months later when, noting that there had been no improvement in Bev's performance, Bev was fired for cause on the ground of poor performance. Do you think the employer had just cause to dismiss Bev?

8. Can an employee be fired for taking a day off to watch the big "game" (e.g., World Cup soccer, the Stanley Cup finals, the Olympics, etc.) of the year?

9. How might an employer benefit from an exit interview with a resigning employee?

10. You are an HR consultant. One of your clients, an employer (Joseph), has contacted you about the following situation. He has just finished a performance evaluation meeting with one of his employees, Allan. Allan became very upset during the meeting and at the end of it got up and shouted: "Okay, if that's the way you feel about me, I quit!" Joseph is delighted with the resignation because Allan has been a difficult employee from the time he was hired three years ago, but he wonders whether there's anything he needs to know about the law in this area before he starts hiring a replacement for Allan. Advise Joseph.