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Absent without leave: Can we fire for violating vacation policy?

05/06/2008
Q. We recently could not reach an employee who works off-site. Then we learned he was responding to customer messages by saying he was on vacation. After we learned this, he contacted his supervisor and said he had been on vacation and would be on vacation the rest of the week. His supervisor reports that he had not requested vacation time beforehand—and our policy states that vacation time must be preapproved. This employee had been a marginal performer, and now his supervisor wants to fire him. Can we fire him for this? …

Even small differences can justify different treatment

05/05/2008
An employee sometimes will look for any reason to file a lawsuit—especially if she thinks she has been treated unfairly but doesn’t have any direct evidence. That’s one good reason for justifying all employment-related decisions …

No second opinion? You can challenge FMLA leave later

05/02/2008
What if you want to challenge an employee’s FMLA certification later—after you find out he’s been working elsewhere while on FMLA leave, for example? Are you stuck because you didn’t ask for a second or third medical opinion?…

Take time off seriously—By setting a formal vacation policy

05/02/2008
You wouldn’t dream of having informal payroll policies, right? Yet too many employers treat vacation time—a form of compensation—as a casual entitlement. Getting too informal can cost you. A sound vacation policy addresses the following five elements …

N.J. adopts paid family-Leave law

05/02/2008
New Jersey has become the third state to adopt paid family leave. The law will allow workers to take up to six weeks of paid leave to care for newborns, newly adopted children or sick relatives. Workers, who will pay for the benefit through payroll deductions starting Jan. 1, will be entitled to two-thirds of their salary …

Can a wellness program reduce absenteeism?

05/02/2008
Organizations with wellness programs report fewer sick days among participants, according to PreventDisease.com…

You can require absent employees to follow call-In process

05/01/2008
To manage the workload, employers have to know who will be at work and who will not. After all, when an employee isn’t at work, someone else has to step in and get the work done. Of course, employees sometimes do get sick or have emergencies. A well-crafted call-in policy can help employers cope with unexpected absences …

Legal considerations in eliminating sick pay benefits

05/01/2008
Q. Is it legal in the state of Colorado for an employer to take away paid employee sick leave? If sick leave is a benefit, can the employer suddenly decide that it’s going to take it away, or does it have to pay you for the hours? Can the employer be required to freeze it for you to use if you need it? Can it be forced to pay accrued sick leave if you leave the company? …

Excessive absences justify firing—And bar unemployment compensation

05/01/2008
Ohio employers can fire chronically absent or tardy employees without worrying that unemployment compensation will be the reward for missing work. That’s true as long as the absences weren’t covered by the FMLA or other leave laws …

New state law adds ‘Military status’ to protected classes

05/01/2008
The recently enacted Ohio Veterans Package amends the Ohio Civil Rights Act to bar discrimination based on “military status.” As a result, Ohio employers now face new legal requirements on both the state and federal fronts for how they treat military employees and their families …