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Ask the Attorney Archives

Can we limit our applicant pool to U.S. citizens only?

06/09/2014
Q: “Is it legal for an employer to only hire United States citizens, and when advertising say that you must be one to apply for the position? Would this fall under ‘discrimination’ and are there any laws that prevent it?” – Susan, Kansas

What is the minimum documentation needed to grant FMLA leave?

06/09/2014

Q: “Does an employer have to request an official certification form for all FMLA situations, or can a physician’s note be enough for an employer to designate FMLA?” – Ann, Illinois

Are there travel limits when a worker is on FMLA leave?

06/02/2014
Q: “Can an employee leave the USA to visit his home country while on family medical leave? Are there any restrictions?” – Terry, New Jersey

Is it legal to forbid workers from scheduling appointments during work hours?

05/27/2014

Q: “Can we tell employees that they are not allowed to schedule any outside appointments during work hours? I have an employee who is constantly scheduling appointments during work hours and having to leave work for hours at a time. In the last two weeks alone, this employee has missed a total of 27 hours due to appointments scheduled during work hours. If we cannot restrict employee appointments outside of work, can I require general documentation of appointments without requesting any protected personal information?” – Kate, New York

What’s the best way to recoup employee uniform costs?

05/27/2014

Q: “Can we charge a 100% refundable deposit for uniforms to be deducted via installments thru payroll deduction? We offer optional uniforms; however, it’s becoming increasingly expensive, as most employees do not return the uniforms and our vendor charges us up $500-$600 per set. Alternatively, if an employee signs a wage deduction authorization form which states the full cost of company-issued uniforms will be deducted from his final paycheck if he fails to return said uniforms, and the employee returns nothing, would I be violating the law if such a deduction caused the employee’s pay to fall below the federal minimum wage?” — Belle-Anna, Texas

Can we terminate an employee who didn’t show up to review his discipline investigation?

05/27/2014
Q: “We have an employee who was suspended pending the outcome of an internal investigation; the employee violated company rules. Upon completion, HR asked the employee to come into the office to discuss the outcome and the employee did not show up on the designated date. Can we terminate the employee?” – Valerie, Texas

Must we offer benefits to our summer help?

05/19/2014

Q: “We have summer full-time temporary help (high school students). They are paid $10.00 per hour plus time and one half for any hours worked over 40 hours. Because they are considered full-time temporary employees, must we offer them medical, dental or flex spending benefits? We offer other full-time employees these benefits from day one. We consistently have not given benefits to full-time temporary help.” – Dorothy, Michigan

What charges might I be open to if something goes wrong with payroll preparation?

05/19/2014

Q: “I’m aware that ignorance of the law is not an excuse and doesn’t provide immunity from prosecution; however, I need a specific federal or state law, statute, regulation and/or publication to cite when requesting the company to pay for a payroll certification course. I read something that left me thinking I’m open to civil and criminal charges for certain errors. Am I wrong, or do such ramifications exist?” – Belle-Anna, Texas

Can sick leave hours count toward overtime?

05/19/2014

Q: “My employee has been earning overtime pay lately. Last week she was out sick on Monday but worked 40 hours Tuesday through Friday. She would like to use her sick leave for Monday and claim overtime for those Monday hours. Am I allowed to pay her overtime for those Monday hours?” – Michael, Maryland

Salaried employee didn’t work a whole final week–what must we pay?

05/19/2014

Q: “Do we have to pay the full salary for a salaried employee’s last week if he/she works sporadically during that last week, or can we pay hourly? For example, an employee works four hours on Monday, five hours on Tuesday, three hours on Wednesday, three hours on Thursday, three hours on Friday?” – JG, New Jersey