Today is HR Professionals Day, an annual celebration that recognizes the hard work of Human Resource personnel and highlights the unique challenges they face. HR departments are often maligned, but they ensure that operations run smoothly and in accordance with the laws that govern the workplace. They also ensure that employees and managers have the support they need.

Or almost everything.

A fun way to while away your time until the weekend officially arrives.

Last week, I talked about why documentation is so important as part of an employer's legal defense.

Today I'd like to talk about what good documentation should contain. Some of these are so obvious as to be almost ridiculous, but many supervisors and managers omit them. (Trust me!)

No. 1: It shows who wrote it. Remember when your fifth grade teacher gave you a zero on that project that ...

Documentation. What a pain! You have so many more important things to do. But taking the time to document is a good practice that may save you a lot of grief later.

I know that most of you already know what I'm about to say, but you can share this with your "operations" management.

No. 1. Good documentation provides you and your managers with a record. That's a big deal in itself, and it becomes an ...

Oh, for cryin' out loud.

Last week, a high school principal in Bangor, Maine, banned a math teacher from having a little pink Christmas holiday Hello Kitty tree in her classroom for the holidays. She says she was told it was too "religious," although I'm still trying to figure out what religion Hello Kitty is associated with.

The teacher was irritated, rightfully so, and went on Facebook ...