Apparently faking a cough over the phone wasn’t enough for an employee wanting to get out of work. No, a Washington man apparently wanted a little more time off and had a flair for the dramatic so he had a friend shoot him in the shoulder to avoid work and a looming drug test. He told his boss he was hit in a drive by shooting. No word on whether the time off has morphed into permanent time away from the job.

While there still seems to be some disagreement among those in the military over whether waterboarding is torture, it appears that at least one supervisor thought it could be a motivational tool. A Utah company and its supervisor are being accused of using this technique of making someone feel as though he is drowning, to motivate sales staff. It is alleged that a supervisor took his team outside, held an employee down, and poured water into his mouth and nose. The employee, who claims he didn’t know what type of motivational exercise he was volunteering for, has sued claiming he is now sick and depressed. The company president suspended the supervisor for 2 weeks, indicated that the actions were against company policy, and that the employee knew what he was getting into. I couldn’t make this stuff up. Reality is indeed stranger than fiction.

In the “old days” when the snow began to melt, the birds reappeared, and many Americans became excited about the NCAA basketball tournament, employers might worry that employees would spend too much time discussing the games and the office pool. Well, those days are gone. This year, for the first time, all but one of the 63 games are available online. Many early games are played during business hours. You’re probably thinking… that will mean that a lot of employees will spend too much time watching games and checking score updates. You’d be right. But IT people see an even larger problem. All that watching and use of bandwidth can bring networks down. Many are fighting back and installing filters that block the online coverage. So much for the technology revolution and the added productivity that has come with it.

A report from the Pew Center on the States has found that for the first time, one in every 100 American adults is behind bars. In the last 30 years the prison population has tripled, now standing at 1.6 million, with another 725,000 in municipal jails.  One in 36 Hispanic men is incarcerated and one in fifteen black men (one in nine black men from 20-24). The U.S. keeps more people in prison than any other country, even China. As a percentage of population the numbers are particularly attention getting.

That’s tragic, shocking, or interesting you may say, but what does it have to do with HR?   Well, most of those people eventually get out and apply for work.  Issues surrounding criminal backgrounds checks, how to handle results from such checks, avoiding discrimination against people with criminal records, and negligent hiring have all become more common issues.  If you haven’t had to face them yet, you most likely will.  It may be time to review your policies and procedures.