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Carl Crosby Lehmann

Does the FMLA apply after a loved one has died?

01/13/2010

Q. I have an employee who has been taking FMLA leave to care for her ill mother. The employee’s mother recently died, and the employee has requested an additional few weeks to attend to some issues with her mother’s estate. Can I continue to treat this time as FMLA leave?

Could we have refused to hire waitress who now refuses to sing ‘Happy Birthday’?

01/13/2010

Q. One of the waitresses working in our restaurant claims her religion forbids her from singing “Happy Birthday” to customers. If, during her interview, we had identified this requirement as an essential job function, and if she said she couldn’t sing the song for religious reasons, would we have been within our rights to refuse to hire her?

Do we need new record-retention rules now that the Ledbetter law has been enacted?

01/13/2010

Q. I keep hearing that the Ledbetter Act means we may need to hold onto documents about employees beyond our current retention policies. What do we need to do to make sure our document-retention policies comply with the law?

Using partial SSN as employee ID: Is that legal?

12/29/2009

Q. Can we use the last four digits of our employees’ Social Security number (SSN) as their employee identification number? It would make tracking hours on our log-in time clock much easier.

Employee’s still out after 12 weeks of FMLA: Can we fire?

12/23/2009

Q. If an employee exhausts his 12 weeks of FMLA and still isn’t able to return to work, should we terminate his employment immediately?

When should we request fitness-for-duty exam?

12/18/2009

Q. One of our employees recently told her supervisor that she has a heart condition. She went home early the other day because she wasn’t feeling well. Can we request that she get a doctor’s note clearing her to work?

Can employee on FMLA leave collect unemployment?

12/15/2009

Q. We have an employee out on unpaid FMLA leave. She said she wants to collect unemployment compensation. Is she eligible?

A worker is asking us for a loan: How can we set up a legal repayment plan?

12/09/2009

Q. An employee wants to borrow $2,000 from the company to cover a family emergency, and we’re willing to make the loan. How should we structure the loan and repayment terms so we can deduct a certain amount from the employee’s bimonthly paycheck? We also want to be able to deduct the balance of the loan from the employee’s final paycheck in the event he is terminated before completely repaying the loan.

How should we count FMLA leave when both parents work for the same company?

12/09/2009

Q. Our company employs a husband and his wife in different departments. Their daughter has been diagnosed with a serious medical condition that requires hospitalization for extended periods of time. The couple wants to know how much time they are entitled to under the FMLA to care for their child. Our company policy provides that spouses employed by the company can get only a combined total of 12 weeks to care for a sick child. Is that a correct application of the law, or does the FMLA prevent us from implementing such a policy?

During the hiring process, when is it OK to ask about disabilities?

12/09/2009

Q. Are there any circumstances where an employer can justify considering a prospective employee’s disability in making hiring decisions?