A bank in a small town is concerned with the perception of its employees by customers and others in the community. Branch managers are responsible for both the running of the branches and building community relationships. The bank decides that it needs to determine if certain personal habits are creating a negative perception towards customers. The bank decides to monitor its branch manager’s off-duty activities in order to determine if this is creating concerns for the bank. Is the bank legally permitted to carry through this action? Does this constitute an invasion of privacy?

Q2

As human resource leaders, future and present, your mandate is recruit, hire and retain a highly qualified workforce–a workforce that is not qualified by virtue of training and experience, but a workforce of integrity–honest, drug free, physically and emotionally healthy.

Pre-employment testing of one form or another has been a part of American business since the early 1950’s. What kind of pre-employment testing is valid and contributes to overall company performance? Are there any kinds of testing that either should be barred or are capable of being used inappropriately?

Q3

There are many individuals who use social media sites indiscriminately and do not consider the consequences of their interactions with others or what is posted. Even when they may not identify themselves with an employer, there are others who may access the site who know them personally and may reveal their employer in their postings. In addition, some employers may access their employees’ personal sites out of curiosity or may have a legitimate reason to question the site’s content. Is this invading the employee’s privacy or is it a right of the employer since they may be able to view only what is “public” on the site?

Q4

Retaliation has been the number one filed EEOC complaint now since 2010, surpassing racial and sexual harassment and discrimination for the first time then, and since then. Often, disciplinary actions result in EEOC filings. Discipline is an area of Human Resources that can certainly create the potential for legal liability for employers. What are some good guidelines to follow? What are some pitfalls to avoid? How might valid policies be structured and investigations be handled to ensure that retaliation complaints do not result from disciplinary actions?

Q5

Employees are becoming increasingly concerned with their rights to pursue a private life free from employer incursion. Technology advances make monitoring of employee workspaces, e-mail, even key strokes entered on a computer traceable. Drug habits are documented to cost employers $60 billion per year in absenteeism and attrition; theft of employer property by employees another $10 billion per annum.

Federal government employees are protected somewhat by the Privacy Act of ’74. But do employees in the private sector have protection against intrusion into their workspace and private lives? Do any of the common law tort remedies offer the potential of privacy rights for private sector employees? Support your response.

Q6

Since email is becoming the most common form of “written” communication today, it is important that employers recognize the both the value and the liability of these employment “records”. There are records retention requirements for a number of employment records. For example job applications must be maintained for a specific period of time in accordance with EEOC regulations for use in EEOC investigations. Pay records must be kept for a specific period of time since back pay claims can be retroactive for a specific number of years. Do you think that employers should have a policy on the retention of employee email communication beyond the termination date of the employee? If so, why and how long should the records be retained?

Acct

Q7

Class, let’s start with a discussion on current financial disclosures. Should financial statement disclosures be greater? What are the pros and cons for the increased financial information being disclosed by public companies on their company’s Internet websites? Please let me know if you have any questions

Q8

Now how do you distinguish between Financial Reporting for GAAP, and full Disclosure.  What is Management Discussion and Analysis.  Access a public company annual report and analyze its M&A section and how it helps the investors in their decision making process. Please let me know if you have any questions

Q9

MD&A section of the annual report is an opportunity for the management to express their plans and provide future guidance and it is a good place for the investors to assess in what direction the management plans to take the company in future.   Now let’s discuss about the interim reporting. Do you think interim reporting enhances the quality of information or it distorts the quality of information? Please let me know if you have any questions