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Arizona

Tell staff: Break data rules, risk prosecution

06/16/2011

When explaining your computer-use policy, make sure employees understand they may be criminally prosecuted if they violate the rules and gain access to information they have no business reading. That should make them think twice about obtaining confidential in­­for­ma­tion and passing it on to the competition.

Be prepared to prove you had reasonable cause to deny reinstatement after FMLA leave

05/20/2011
Employers that deny an employee the right to reinstatement after protected FMLA leave must make sure there’s solid proof that there was a rational reason for doing so. As a practical matter, that means employers must show that the employee would have lost her job regardless of whether she took FMLA leave.

Federal government employer? You are liable for interest on back pay if you discriminate

04/20/2011
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the Back Pay Act allows judges to order interest payments to federal government employees who win discrimination lawsuits if the employees were affected by “an unjustified or unwarranted personnel action which resulted in the withdrawal or reduction of all or part” of the employee’s pay.

Weed out substance abuse with ‘one-strike’ rule

04/20/2011
Many employers have adopted strict drug and alcohol testing programs for all new hires—and strictly bar employment of anyone who tests positive. Now the 9th Circuit has ruled that applying the rule to a recovering addict is legal unless that addict can somehow prove that the rule discriminates against a class of disabled individuals—namely, recovering addicts.

9th Circuit: Pharma reps are salespeople

03/22/2011
Typically, federal courts tend to uphold the U.S. Department of Labor’s interpretations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. But now the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected the DOL’s interpretation of what it means to be an outside salesperson under the FLSA.

Plant closings: You must give 60 days’ notice

02/23/2011
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a strongly worded opinion chastising an employer for trying to dodge liability for not giving 60 days’ notice that it would close a facility, as required by the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act.

No separate notice for nonmembers required for midyear union dues assessment

01/28/2011
What happens if a union passes a dues increase in the middle of the year—perhaps in an election year? Can the union collect the increased amount and then adjust it at the beginning of the next year? According to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, that’s exactly the way to handle the increase.

Here’s the right way to recoup training costs

12/21/2010
It’s expensive to train employees, especially if the content is highly specialized. Smart employers protect their investments by getting employees to agree to repay training costs if they leave soon after receiving the valuable benefit. Just don’t mess with the employee’s final paycheck.

‘Disabled’ person recover? Demand proof he can’t work

11/19/2010
Some health conditions become less disabling because of better medicines or other factors. That means that an employee collecting disability payments under a company disability plan may in fact recover enough to warrant cutting off benefits.

With eye toward defending disability lawsuit, track medical condition before termination

11/19/2010

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has concluded that a former employee can’t use his physical condition at the time of trial to prove he is disabled. Instead, he must show that, at the time he was employed, he had a condition that substantially limited a major life function. The ruling is good news for employers.