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Susan Lessack

Are we liable for food poisoning that employee suffers while working out of town?

06/29/2015
Q. We have a question regarding our crews that work out of town and stay out for about four days. Can we be held liable if they get sick on a meal that was paid for by the company? We are thinking about paying a per diem instead to resolve this issue. If an employee is working on a road crew and takes off sick and stays in motel room, are we required to supply him the meal per diem?

After exempt employee uses up paid leave, what do we do when he misses work again?

06/09/2015
Q. I have a salaried employee who used all his vacation and sick time. He is allowed a total of 21 days and has used 22. He wants to take more vacation in Novem­­ber and is always sick (so he’ll probably be out more). Can I deduct from his pay if he’s out more? Or can I take days from next year? This may be an ongoing thing every year.

How do we prevent negligent hiring claims?

04/29/2015
Q. I recently read an article about employees who were attacked or harassed at work by other employees who never should have been hired in the first place. How can an employer reduce its risk of liability for negligent hiring?

Is it ever OK for a boss to change a time sheet?

04/29/2015
Q. Is it illegal for managers to change exempt or nonexempt employees’ time sheets if they neglect to indicate that they took a day off?

Discipline for attendance during FMLA leave?

04/01/2015
Q. Before we could counsel an employee about ongoing attendance problems, she was approved for intermittent FMLA to care for her mother. However, she continues to have attendance problems unrelated to her FMLA leave. Can we proceed with counseling and possible disciplinary actions while she is under FMLA?

What’s the law on paying for travel time?

04/01/2015
Q. How should we go about determining how much we need to pay employees for travel time?

Is it double-dipping to receive both workers’ comp and Social Security benefits?

03/03/2015
Q. Can an injured worker obtain both workers’ compensation benefits and Social Security disability benefits at the same time?

Can missed quotas add up to docked pay?

03/03/2015
Q. Can an employee’s pay be docked for failing to meet a production quota?

What is the most effective way of keeping a former employee from giving away trade secrets?

03/03/2015
Q. As an employer, what can I do to avoid unauthorized disclosure of sensitive company information when an employee departs?

Can repeated, petty complaints to HR be considered some form of harassment?

03/03/2015
Q. A more senior employee was recently passed over for a promotion because a newer employee is clearly more qualified. Now that this person is their boss, the more senior employee has filed several petty complaints against her. Although we are aware that these complaints are completely invalid, we in HR have to take it seriously. But it is a shame for the new supervisor to have the complaints piling up in her file. Is this considered harassment?