What can we do? One of our employees is not at all productive, but his manager refuses to terminate him. That's because the employee has a terminal illness. The manager speaks to the employee about his poor performance and not following instructions, but that is far as it goes. At what point should HR intervene and press for termination?—Marilyn

I have a manager who isn’t breaking any policies, but bends the rules regarding his own work schedule. Our managers are required to work 38 hours a week, but do have the flexibility to set their own schedules. This particular manager works his 38 hours, but does so in a four-day workweek instead of a five-day workweek. I’m getting concerning phones calls from his staff. I’m also worried that this sends a mixed message to employees and other managers. Please advise.—Yvonne, Fla.

Our company has a MySpace page, to which all employees were invited to join. Soon after, one of our employees posted on his own MySpace page a derogatory comment about a co-worker. Naturally, that comment showed up on our MySpace page, and now the co-worker wants us to do something about it. But what? I'm at a loss about how or whether we can do anything. Suggestions?--Anonymous

One of our employees has come to me with a request that makes me nervous. She wants to invite co-workers to attend Bible study sessions on our company’s premises. The gatherings would take place before working hours in a staff picnic area on our grounds. We don’t have any kind of policy addressing this. Are there any legal or other issues I should consider before I decide what to do?—SJM, Fla.

One of the managers at our small firm constantly chooses on a whim which company policies apply to her people. She lets the departments she manages have privileges no other department in the company has. For example, they get great latitude when filling out time sheets (which has led to what I consider Fair Labor Standards Act violations). As the HR rep, I hear complaints all the time about this inequitable policy flexibility. What should I do? I’m worried about morale, but also about legal liability. — Louise, Pennsylvania

We have an African-American employee who has repeatedly complained that supervisors and co-workers single her out for poor treatment because of her race. This has ranged from the very serious (that she received a poor review because she is black) to the trivial (that someone told a joke about Barack Obama to upset her).

On every occasion, HR has investigated her complaints. We’ve never found any evidence of discrimination or harassment, which infuriates her even more. Eventually, she calms down, but five or six months later she’s back with another complaint. She’s otherwise a good employee. Any ideas on how to handle her?—Jeanne

One of our employees has called in sick every other Tuesday for the past three months. She gets her work done and has plenty of sick leave, so I’m not worried she’s abusing our leave policy. But I am worried something is going on that HR should know about. Would I be out of line to ask her about her absences?—C.S., California

For years, we have used the same attorney to handle all our legal needs--contracts, leases and so forth in addition to employment law. Now we're getting to the point where I suspect we need an attorney who specializes in employment issues. Any tips on what to look for in such an attorney and how to work with him or her?--Steven, Atlanta

"My company has 200 employees. I want to replace our manual time clocks and punch cards with a computerized system. I have been looking for a vendor or a software package that can do that. Does anyone have any suggestions on who or what to choose? How much should I plan on spending? Is it difficult to get such a system up and running?"—Clyde W.

Question: Management recently told all my organization’s non-exempt employees that they would no longer be paid for coming in for “on call” emergency situations. There would be no need to clock in as it will be considered “volunteered” time. The time can’t be credited to comp time either. This seems illegal to me all around. Anyone have any thoughts on this?—T.A., Iowa

Question: "After we hired someone, we found out that she had a snake tattoo down her arm. Plus, she's now wearing a tongue ring which she did not have in when we interviewed her. My question is: Can we ask her to remove the tongue piercing during working hours and wear a long sleeve blouse or sweater to cover the tattoo while she is at work?" -- Faye, PA

Question: “I’m in desperate need of some way to explain the concept of exempt and nonexempt employees to top management in my company. I know there are strict legal definitions, but I wish someone would come up with an informative shorthand description of the difference between the two categories. I also need a way to impress on management the importance of carefully distinguishing between exempt and nonexempt status. Any advice?” — Ron C., Oklahoma

Question: "How can I persuade our employees to take the leave FMLA was designed to provide? Short surgeries, family situations, and even new fathers—these are all situations in which employees have chosen to use vacation time instead of FMLA entitlements. The most common reasoning is 'I want to save it in case of a real emergency.' Any advice for making the case for FMLA?" — Elaine A., Florida