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Ask the Attorney Archives

Can we dock employee’s pay for sick day if he’s exhausted his PTO?

03/19/2012
Q. We have a six-month introductory period for all new hires and PTO accrues during this time. But employees aren’t eligible to use it until they complete the six-month period. Can an exempt employee be docked pay if they want a vacation day or sick day during this time? Or, after the six-month introductory period, if an exempt employee has exhausted his PTO accrual, can he be docked pay? – Mike, Kansas

How do we handle an EEOC claim … ‘stall’ it to death?

03/12/2012
Q. How is it possible to get out of an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) claim [i.e., a claim alleging that the employee was subjected to unlawful discrimination, harassment, and/or retaliation] even if the employee has tape recordings to prove their claim? Can we prolong the process so the time can run out or is there no time limit in how long the EEOC waits for a position statement from us? We just want to ignore it and hope it goes away. – Anonymous, Indiana

How can we legally fire the union shop steward?

03/12/2012
Q. Recently, we did an exhaustive investigation to determine who damaged a piece of company property. Several people had access to the property, but the investigation narrowed down to one person. Everyone else, except this person, had witnesses to corroborate their statements that they didn’t damage the property. When interviewed, the person in question changed his story on three separate occasions. The company has decided to terminate this employee. He is the shop steward for the union, so it’s likely to get ugly. What are your thoughts? – Supervisor, West Virginia

My boss forced me to tell lies: What are the risks?

03/12/2012
Q. I am a supervisor and I do what I’m told by my boss. But I am a little scared daily because the union president and my boss are good friends. They both don’t like a certain employee and are working together to try to get the person fired. Do you think we should stop helping the union at this point because the employee filed FDR charges against the union but not against us yet? Will we get caught compromising with the union vice president under the table? I have told so many lies because my boss told me to and they are trying to build a case against the employee. What should I do? – Henry, Indiana

No state law on break time: What does FLSA say?

03/12/2012
Q. What are Florida’s rules on meal and break time for hourly workers?

How much time must we give employees to consider severance agreements?

03/05/2012
Q. Under OWBPA, how much time must a company allow an employee to review a severance agreement before accepting or rejecting the release agreement? I thought it was 21 days, but recently heard it could be up to 45 days? – Anonymous, Georgia

Supervisor failed to put his discpline notes in employee’s file: What do we do?

03/05/2012
Q. We have an employee who has been filing retaliation and discrimination claims against us for over a year. We’ve been able to maneuver the blows so far. But this time he claimed his supervisor falsified all the information in his supervisors log — his attendance, FMLA, disability records — and now he requests his personnel file. We told the employee that he has nothing in the file.  How can we prove the write-ups the supervisor put in his daily log truly exist if the supervisor never sent the information to the employee’s personnel file, which is empty. Do we fire the supervisor? Or how can we transfer his information and put it in the file, even though we have already told employee he has no file?  – Win, Indiana

Error found on the I-9 Form: Edit it or create a new one?

02/27/2012
Q. If an error is found on an I-9 form, can HR request that the employee complete a new form? – Kathryn, New York

How much notice must we give employees when selling the business?

02/27/2012
Q. We are selling our small business with 15 employees. The company that is buying us will not hire our staff. How many days’ notice is required to notify our staff? Will our employees qualify for unemployment benefits and who’s responsible to pay the benefits — us or the new company? Should we give them a written letter or notification to use for unemployment benefits? – Chenna, Texas

How do we legally terminate a ‘troublemaker’?

02/13/2012
Q. I have an employee who is known as a troublemaker. When she’s upset, the whole team is upset, due to union contract in effect. I want to get rid of her. Recently, she asked for a copy of her personnel file and I haven’t provided it to her because there was nothing in it. But I have to do some type of disciplines to include in the file before I give it to her because she has never had any violations against her. What can I do to get rid of her sooner? – Anonymous, Indiana