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  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Susan Lessack

Does newly married worker need new W-4, I-9?

07/17/2009

Q. When an employee gets married, do we need a new W-4 to show her new name? What about a new I-9?

Does this person have a case? We withdrew an offer after she quit her old job and moved

06/26/2009

Q. We offered a job to an applicant who was located out of state. We orally promised her a position and gave her a start date. As the date grew closer and we were finalizing the offer letter, there was a hiring freeze and we had to withdraw the offer. She has now threatened to sue us. Does she have a case?

Can we prohibit employees from sharing salary information with one another?

06/26/2009

Q. Is it illegal for a company to prohibit employees from sharing salary and wage information?

How closely can we monitor contractors without creating an employment relationship?

06/26/2009

Q. Can I require an independent contractor to provide weekly sales reports (number of contacts made, closed sales, contracts sent, etc.) without turning our arrangement into an employer/employee relationship?

Can we listen in on employees’ phone calls?

06/26/2009

Q. We have a good reason to believe that one of our employees is divulging proprietary company information to a friend of his who works for our competition. We have a device that would allow us to listen in on his phone conversations, but not record it. Is it within our rights as an employer to listen in on his calls?

Must we pay a bonus to someone who earned it but no longer works for us?

06/26/2009

Q. Our company pays quarterly and annual bonuses, depending on the position. If an employee is with us throughout the entire quarter/year, but leaves before we pay out the bonuses, is he still entitled to one? We don’t have a policy stating that you must be employed at the time the bonus is paid.

Can we request FMLA recertification for each migraine?

06/22/2009

Q. If an employee constantly calls in sick because of migraine headaches, how can we verify the real reasons for the absences? Can we ask for information each time the employee is absent?

Pregnant poor performer: Can we fire her?

06/22/2009

Q. We have a pregnant employee who is planning to take maternity leave soon. Her performance has deteriorated badly during her pregnancy, but we don’t think her pregnancy has anything to do with it. Can we terminate?

FLSA exempt salaries: Cutting pay and hours by 20%

06/22/2009

Q. We’ve begun paying FLSA exempt employees 20% less per week and asking them to work 20% fewer hours. Some still continue to work far more hours. Can we legally do this, or must the employees report the actual number of hours they worked on their time sheets, even though they’re only receiving 80% of their regular salaries?

Mandatory overtime and the ADA

06/22/2009

Q. We have an employee who has blood clots in her legs and whose doctor says she can work only 40 hours per week. She knew overtime was required when she was hired. Do we have to let her work a reduced schedule of just 40 hours?