What The Hell Just Happened?!

Giving your employees in-house treatment as a benefit of employment is common, and a great way to increase employee retention! However, there are a lot of things to consider, especially when it comes to billing and how insurance carriers see things. Listen when Harley Hartliep and Paul Edwards sit down and talk about it in this week's episode of What the Hell Just Happened?!

You’d be surprised what’s out there when it comes to HR practices; we sure are. From an employer that liked touching the ear lobes of his employees all the way to potentially paying employees with pizza, listen to Paul and CeCe talk about various stories where HR has gone very wrong.

Events outside of work are super common, and sometimes even encouraged. Hosting your employees for after-work drinks or holiday parties to show appreciation is nice. However, are you inviting employees to these in the right way? A post on Reddit went viral where an employee felt pressured to go to the events outside of working hours as if their position in the company would be in jeopardy if they didn’t attend. Remember, if it feels required, then it is required. Listen to Paul Edwards and Ally Dagnino unpack this situation in this week’s episode.

How are performance evaluations done at your business? Everyone all at once? On each employee’s yearly employment anniversary? Which method do you think is best? Performance evaluations can be done in several different ways to match the needs of whatever business the employees belong to. However, doing them all at once at the same time each year can make it rough on not only the person giving the reviews but also the employees themselves. Listen to Jennie McLaughlin and CeCe Wilson as they take over the mic this week to talk about best practices around performance reviews.

One of the easiest ways to find yourself in hot water when it comes to human resources is by paying people incorrectly (which is easier to do than you think!). There are so many Timekeeping systems out there, how do you know which one to use? Listen as Paul Edwards and Tiana Starke discuss Timekeeping systems, what to look for in them, and let you know which ones are stupid and which ones are not.

Age discrimination is high on the list of everyday occurrences in the workforce. Forcing an older employee to retire, looking for “fresh out of college” applicants, and more can quickly land your business in the danger zone in the eyes of the EEOC. In this week’s episode of What the Hell Just Happened?! Listen to Paul Edwards and CeCe Wilson talk about the risks involved with this touchy subject, and how to ensure you don’t land in a place where the EEOC will be looking at you.

Conflict is everywhere and comes in many forms. In the workplace, it can bring down the entire vibe of your practice, and your patients will feel that shift too. What do you do, as a manager or owner, when employees approach you about conflict that they can’t seem to solve themselves? What steps do you take? Listen to this week’s episode to hear what Paul Edwards and Moriah Ochoa sit down and talk about it.

In this episode, we give managers payroll heartburn over bonuses and commission payments. Did you know that bonuses and commissions affect hourly wages and cause the need to adjust past pay for overtime? “What I need you to know, and this is the mindblowing part, is that when an employee works the first quarter of a year and earns a bonus or commission at the end of that quarter if they have worked any overtime during that first quarter where the bonus was subject to - YOU have to go back and look at the overtime hours and add that bonus into the overtime hours. You owe them more money. Not only do you owe the commission/bonus, but now that you know how much they earned, you need to go back and adjust their overtime pay.”

One trend in the world of HR right now is that employers are using social media to look up the people applying to your workplace. For years now we’ve been telling our HR Community that there are intrinsic issues with doing so. The prevailing thinking is that it gives you the chance to see if the person you are thinking about hiring is “normal”? but the problem is, you may also or only come up with things that you don’t want to find. Listen to Jennie McLaughlin and CeCe Wilson in this week’s episode to hear why we advocate against this practice.

Recently, there was a court case about one employee claiming the use of the requested pronouns of another employee went against their religion, so they would not do it. What would you do if you were an employer in this situation? The answer is trickier than you think. Our main guidance: engage in the interactive process. Listen to Paul Edwards, Nora Gustafson, and Amanda Rishor sit down to unpack this issue and the best way to handle it as an employer.

Recently, Crumbl Cookies found themselves in trouble with the Department of Labor for violating child labor laws. This issue is more common than you may think, as many states have specific laws surrounding minors having jobs. If you are considering hiring a minor this summer, listen to Paul Edwards, Kristen Hof, and Amanda Rishor talk about the various things to remember when you decide to bring a child on as an employee.

One thing we constantly get asked about by our community of over 10,000 practice owners and managers is how to handle employees traveling for a work event. Do you need to pay them for the entire time? Can you restrict their drinking? What about rooming employees together to save some money on hotel costs? Listen as Paul Edwards and Michelle Richards discuss this popular topic and answer some of your most asked questions.

One of our employees recently went to a concert where the show's opener gave out a feedback form. Of course, as HR nerds, this inspired us to talk about the always asked about topic: giving feedback to employees. Most people want feedback, but there are right and wrong ways to go about it. Listen to Paul Edwards, Kristen Hof, and Amanda Rishor talk about why you shouldn’t be afraid to give feedback to employees and what the benefits of those conversations are (if you aren’t giving them feedback, they will start making it up in their head).

A good amount of states out there have now legalized cannabis for recreational purposes along with medical. Employers are increasingly facing employees coming into the office smelling like weed. Even if they do not seem impaired (if they do, that is an entirely different issue), there are steps you can take to ensure the smell is not present in your office. Listen to this week’s episode, where Paul, Nora, and Amanda sit down to discuss what to do when facing this situation.

A.I. is everywhere, and it isn’t going away. More and more discoveries are being made about how popular A.I. tools, such as ChatGPT, can help with various daily tasks, even running a business. There is even talk out there about how certain A.I. tools can run your HR department for you or write your employee handbook. However, listen to Paul Edwards, Ally Dagnino, and Amanda Rishor talk about the risks involved with taking the human out of human resources and using it as a solution rather than a tool.

Have you heard the term “hire slow, fire fast”? It’s making its way through the world of content catered to employers lately, and Paul Edwards and Moriah Ochoa wanted to sit down and talk about it. Is there any truth to it? What exactly does it mean? Listen to this week’s episode to hear their thoughts on the entire concept and how they suggest you interpret the increasingly popular phrase.

If you’re an employer in today’s working environment, there is no doubt that you’ve heard of burnout... Maybe even experienced it yourself! But what is burnout? Can it be prevented? How do you address it? Listen to Paul Edwards sit down with CeCe Wilson and Amanda Rishor to discuss burnout in the workplace and how to approach it with all different generations of employees.

The Kardashians have done it again… and by that, we mean allegedly violating employment laws. This time, the conversation focuses on Khloe Kardashian and how she treated her personal assistant, who is now attempting to sue her for breaking California Labor Laws. Join Paul Edwards, Jennie McLaughlin, and Amanda Rishor as they talk about the crazy world of the Kardashians and how HR seems to find its way into it all (doesn’t it always?).

Paying $400k in back wages…sound like something you’d want to have to do? Classifying employees incorrectly is extremely common in several fields of business. Having employees who are incorrectly classified, either as exempt or non-exempt, has caused problems for thousands of companies throughout the years. In this week’s episode of What The Hell Just Happened?! Listen to Paul Edwards and Michelle Richard discuss what happened to two businesses, one smaller and one large, after they were discovered by the Department of Labor to be incorrectly classifying some employees.

Talking about the EEOC and the businesses they go after has become a regular occurrence on What The Hell Just Happened?! This episode is no exception. There are several ways sexual harassment can show up within your workplace, and Monroe Auto had to learn this lesson the hard way by paying out a large settlement. Listen to Paul Edwards as he sits down with CeCe Wilson and Amanda Rishor to discuss what happened and how it could have been stopped before it even started.

Picture this: you sift through dozens of applications and schedule countless phone interviews (something we are all too familiar with). Then, one of your phone screens goes extremely well, and you have hope for filling your position that has been empty for quite a while. You schedule this candidate for their first in-person interview, and when they come in, they sound nothing like who you talked to on the phone. Even wilder, they give you completely countering answers from what they had prior. Turns out it is someone else entirely! Oddly enough, this is becoming all too common. Paul Edwards sits down with CeCe Wilson to discuss this strange new phenomenon and how to prevent it from happening.

Pay transparency is coming up more often as more and more states are beginning to pass laws requiring employers to be transparent about what they are paying people. Additionally, employees are becoming more curious about it when they see jobs that may be similar to theirs having a higher pay range posted with no explanation as to why. As an employer, this can be nerve-racking when you are first looking into it. However, listen to Paul Edwards, CEO & Founder of CEDR HR Solutions, and Michelle Richard, Senior Solution Center Advisor, discuss how enacting pay transparency at your workplace will benefit you as an employer with current employees and any future ones.

On today's episode of What The Hell Just Happened?!, Paul Edwards and Senior Solution Center expert Halisi Tambuzi are here to discuss an employer's worst-case scenario: An imminent HR-related lawsuit. Listen now to learn what the first steps you should take are, what things you should avoid doing at all costs, and learn about some of the little tricks employment law attorneys can use to make you panic and possibly make a mistake. What To Do When An Employment Lawsuit Appears Imminent What EPLI Insurance Does and Doesn’t Cover

You may have heard recently that Fox News is being sued. Granted, Fox News is being sued for lots of things right now, but today on What The Hell Just Happened?!, Paul Edwards and Solution Center Advisor Moriah Ochoa are discussing Laura Luhn's sexual harassment lawsuit against Fox. This lawsuit was only able to be filed because the state of New York recently passed the Adult Survivors Act, which gives victims of sexual assault a 1-year window to sue for damages regardless of whether the statute of limitations has expired. More and more laws like this are being passed, and an employer who knows (or should have known) about an incident of sexual misconduct and doesn't handle the situation appropriately can be sued just as easily as the employee who actually committed the offense, so your policies on investigating and handling sexual misconduct need to be up to snuff.

Today, we have a special episode of What The Hell Just Happened?! for you! Paul read about Elon Musk's latest Twitter adventure, screamed "He did WHAT?!", and quickly gathered CEDR's Director of Compliance Jennie McLaughlin and Content & Education Curator Amanda Rishor to discuss the situation. Although you might have already known about advanced HR tactics like "Don't fire your employees but not tell them" and "Don't publicly mock your disabled employees over Twitter in front of billions of people", there's a lot of other interesting HR stuff going on in this situation that many people might not have realized. Listen now to get the details and learn how "The World's Smartest Man" got pretty much everything wrong on this one.

Episodes like today's are where our podcast gets its name. Maybe you just read the title of today's episode and you're thinking "Wait, what? That HR question makes no sense!" If so, welcome to the podcast! That feeling of confused annoyance that you're experiencing right now? Totally normal. Join Paul and CEDR Solution Center Advisor Grace Godlasky as they explain why the employee volunteers at your charitable event might not really be "volunteers", as far as the Department of Labor is concerned. We have lots of other WTHJH episodes you can listen to as well, and once you've listened to a few, concepts like this will just leave you smirking lightly in disbelief, like Jim from The Office. If you read the title and thought "Geez, is it Tuesday already? Okay Paul, make it make sense", then it's great to see you back! So yeah, even if your employee doesn't want to be paid for working at your charitable event, there's a whole 3-factor test that needs to be applied under the Fair Labor Standards Act to determine if it's even maybe okay to let them volunteer. This week's episode also has some pretty delicious-sounding food discussion in it though, and Grace is always a fun guest, so there's no time like the present to queue this episode up and buff your HR Nerd credentials.

In today's episode of What The Hell Just Happened?!, Paul Edwards sits down with Solution Center Advisor Kristen Hof to discuss running background checks on job candidates. When should you do them, who should you do them on, and should you give the applicant a heads-up before doing so? Stick around for the whole episode to hear about our general fondness for Aubrey Plaza (really, she's great!), unpaid internships (The Devil Wears Prada isn't a good template for doing them legally!) and listen to Paul's unfiltered thoughts on those Equifax settlement checks that we're all going to retire off of.

Points-based attendance policies… we get it. Sometimes, you want to immediately “punish” employees that are late or call out with no notice. So, you give them half a point or sometimes even a full point, letting them know that once they reach a certain amount, they’ve lost their job. That’ll teach them…! (Can you tell we’re kidding?) Paul Edwards sits down with Senior Solution Center Advisor Michelle Richard to discuss why these types of attendance systems are not a good idea, and how easy it can be to land yourself in hot water if you use one.

The urge for businesses that are customer-facing to have policies in place dictating the appearance of their staff is all too common. More easily than you may think, these policies can run the line of putting your business at risk, as there are several laws in place to protect appearance-related traits/qualities. Laws aside, you run the risk of losing top talent because of these policies, as job performance is not dependent on someone meeting a certain visual standard. Listen to this episode of “What the Hell Just Happened?!” to hear Paul Edwards sit down with CeCe Wilson to discuss the popular convenience store “Sheetz” and how their “perfect smile” policy wound them up in hot water on social media these past couple weeks.

We assume Tesla must have an HR department, but we're starting to suspect that the department just consists of one extremely haggard person constantly scrolling through Elon's Twitter feed and saying "No no no, not again..." Join Paul Edwards and Solution Center Advisor Kristen Hof as they discuss Elon's latest HR no-no: Telling employees they cannot discuss their wages with each other. If your business has a policy (either written or unwritten) telling employees not to discuss their salary, learn why that's an exceptionally bad idea by listening to this week's episode of What The Hell Just Happened.

In this week’s episode of What The Hell Just Happened?! Paul Edwards sits down with CEDR Solution Center Specialist Jason Post to discuss one of the easiest tasks you can do to save yourself a ton of time throughout the year: setting up all your holidays and paid days off in advance and distributing that information to your team. Are you required to pay your employees for federal holidays? Why is this so important and how can it save you time? What do you do about holidays that happen over the weekends? Listen now to hear the answers to all of these questions and more to help ensure you have a clear and compliant year ahead.

In this week’s episode of What The Hell Just Happened?! Paul Edwards sits down with CEDR Human Resources Manager CeCe Wilson to discuss how Circle K handled pregnant employees coming back from leave and why they found themselves in a lawsuit where the EEOC required them to pay out 8 million dollars. Can you require your new mothers to be “fully healed” upon returning to work? If they’re not, what do you do? Listen to find out how to navigate this situation in a safe and legally compliant way.

In 2019, Dove, a popular beauty brand, and The CROWN Coalition began work on the CROWN Act, which stands for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair. As it stands now, 19 states have enacted this Act, and we predict that the rest of the country will follow suit. Listen now as Paul Edwards and Senior Solution Center expert Hali Tambuzi discuss how employers need to be familiar with what the CROWN act is, and how it will affect your practice, to ensure you remain compliant.

What happens when a famous celebrity terminates an employee for taking time off to care for her sick child? You guessed it, massive lawsuit. Listen as Paul Edwards and Solution Center Specialist Jason Post discuss wrongful termination, and the different types of leave of absences that practice owners and office managers have to handle with their employees. Plus, hear guidance on how to go about them in a legally compliant way

Employee suspensions can be one of the most risky situations to tackle as a manager or owner of a business. Knowing when a suspension is the right thing to do can be a tough decision to make, plus the addition of making sure you are compliant in how you go about it can cause extra stress surrounding the whole situation. Listen as manager of compliance, Nora Gustafson, and Paul Edwards sit down and discuss situations when suspension is needed, and when there are better options to consider.

You need an employee to be by their phone on the weekends to handle emergency scheduling (or any other weekend task) but you’re wondering if paying them a lower wage would be okay. Or, if paying them in movie tickets or food would also suffice. Listen to Paul and Michelle Richard, senior solution center advisor, discuss waiting and on-call times and all the little nuances that go into it. Learn how to make sure you and your practice stay legally compliant while having your employees by their phones on their off days.

There are a lot of protections regarding nursing mothers in the workplace. But what happens if you find out that your employee is not nursing for her own child, but rather someone else's? Paul Edwards sits down with Senior Solution Center Advisor Tiana Starke to discuss what protections still apply, and how you can ensure you and your practice remain compliant when handling this unique situation.

In this very special episode of What The Hell Just Happened?! Paul speaks to a call-in guest, Robin Coen, who is the national executive director of the Smile For A Lifetime foundation. Their mission is to help give children access to braces who may otherwise not be able to afford it. Listen to find out how you can help their cause, and give back this season.

On this episode of What the Hell Just Happened? Paul Edwards sits down with CEDR's Senior Solution Center advisor Tiana Starke to discuss everyone's favorite December tradition - the office holiday party. Should you serve alcohol? If you do, what are the risks involved? Should the party be held at your office, or held somewhere offsite? Learn the answer to these (and more) questions by listening to today's episode!

On this episode of What the Hell Just Happened? Paul Edwards sits down with CEDR Compliance Specialist Ally Dagnino to discuss an interesting case of an employee's strange behavior being caused by a potential disability. This case was especially tricky HR-wise because while the employee did something that was clearly improper, it wasn't 100% clear if she was actually responsible for her behavior. What do you do when an employee breaks the rules, but their reason for doing so could make a termination risky?

On this episode of What the Hell Just Happened? Paul Edwards sits down with CEDR Solution Center Advisor Grace Godlasky to discuss an issue that can bring some frustration to employers – having a new employee quit after their training period. Employers everywhere really feel this loss after investing their resources in getting a new employee trained and up to speed, so it is tempting to ask that employee to pay back those training hours if this happens. However, that can lead to some trouble. Listen as Paul and Grace analyze the risk level associated with particular predicament and hash out how to handle it in a safe and legally compliant way.

On this episode of What the Hell Just Happened?, CEDR's resident Compliance Expert Nora Gustafson joins Paul and Amanda to discuss some important considerations for an employer to keep in mind if they've elected to start electronically monitoring their employees' activities. Along with moral considerations, there are lots of privacy laws that need to be taken into account to make sure the monitoring is done legally, and some of them might surprise you!

On this episode of What the Hell Just Happened?, senior Solution Center advisor Tiana Starke joins Paul and Amanda to discuss strategies for coaching an otherwise employee who is a little sensitive to criticism. How do you strike a balance between avoiding hurt feelings and giving the employee the feedback they need to do their job well? The main thing to keep in mind is this: Don't attack the employee, attack the problem!

Join Paul and Tiana as they discuss one of the most awkward HR issues there is - how to deal with an employee that smells bad. Whether it's from bad hygiene, smoking, or working in a stable, an employee with an offensive odor can make for a very uncomfortable working environment. Listen now for some guidance and tips on how to resolve the problem, and maybe you won't have to resort to hanging a million of those car fresheners in your practice!

In the first episode of our second season, Paul sits down with Jennie to talk about hiring a hitman to take care of your usual HR issues. Why fire someone and handle that awkward conversation yourself when you can just rent a hitman? (Just kidding!) Paul and Jennie will inform you about when it's best to outsource for HR - all while avoiding renting out a hitman and winding up in jail!

On this episode of What the Hell Just Happened? Paul Edwards sits down with CEDR Solution Center Advisor Grace Godlasky to discuss an issue that happens more often than not in this current climate - an employee working two jobs without informing their employer. Employers everywhere struggle with ensuring their employees are always actively engaged in their work, and when an employee is secretly splitting their time between two jobs, this can cause issues. Listen as Paul and Grace analyze the risk level associated with particular predicament and hash out how to handle it in a safe and legally compliant way.

On this special Friday release episode of What The Hell Just Happened?! Paul sits down with his executive assistant Amanda as he goes through what he likes to call “pushback” that one of our HR Base Camp members commented regarding our previous episode on employee one-on-ones. This community member raised some excellent points, and Paul wanted to be sure to address them all. Join our Facebook group to join in on the fun, and as always, feel free to email us at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments, or even stories you’d like to share with us.

Drug testing is an especially tricky to subject to navigate with your employees. If you have reason to believe one or more of your employees may be coming into work under the influence of drugs or alcohol, how should testing be handled? There should be a policy about it in your employee handbook, but how do you know if it's legally compliant? Join Paul and Solution Center advisor Michelle Richard as they discuss how to handle this stressful situation.

On this episode of What the Hell Just Happened? Paul Edwards sits down with senior solution center advisor Tiana Starke to discuss options for dealing with employees who smoke while off the clock. While their smoking may be happening outside of the office, the smell follows them back in, and that can be an awkward situation for a practice owner who wants to project an image of caring about oral health. What can you as a manager do about this, and what potential legal pitfalls do you need to keep in mind?

On this episode of What the Hell Just Happened? Paul Edwards sits down with senior solution center advisor Tiana Starke to discuss ghosting in the workplace. What do you do when your employee randomly disappears out of nowhere? With all the different ways an employee can ghost, such as right after an interview, shortly after they start working with you, and many other wild ghosting situations, Paul and Tiana sit and talk about the ways you can handle these situations in a legally compliant and people-focused manner.