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Get ready for 2011’s glut of holidays

11/08/2011
Is anyone going to be at work during the next few weeks? Almost all employees will get a day off on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, but plenty will be taking it easy on other days, too, according to a survey by the Society for Human Resource Management.

With Christmas 2011 and New Year’s Day 2012 falling on Sundays, how will you handle employee time off?

11/01/2011
Most of us will have two paid days off this holiday season.

Parenting leave: To whom must notice be given, and can we require use of vacation leave?

10/12/2011
Q. I have a couple of questions about the parenting leave. We have 33 employees, so we are not subject to the FMLA. Can we require an employee to give ad­­vance notice of the need for leave to HR instead of the employee’s supervisor? Also, can we require em­­ployees to substitute paid vacation days while on leave?

Document efforts to ease return from FMLA

10/12/2011
When employers get sloppy and don’t document their decision-making proc­­esses, things can get dicey. Consider what happens when an employee experiences work stress and starts taking FMLA and other leave. In one recent case, the employer was smart enough to carefully track its efforts to both accommodate an employee and get her back to work.

Holiday sampler: 4 treats to make HR’s season bright

10/08/2011
The holidays are special, but they’re also an HR headache. Our early gift to you: Advice on everything from planning seasonal celebrations to handling end-of-year scheduling hassles.

Is this worker entitled to FMLA leave? She was out for months on workers’ comp

10/04/2011
Q. One of our employees missed several months of work last year because of a workers’ compensation qualifying injury. She has now requested leave under the FMLA. Do we have to grant this request for leave?

Can we really not fire an employee who has been called to jury duty?

09/28/2011
Q. We are a very small company and can’t afford to have an employee on extended leave. Can we legally terminate an employee who is called to jury duty and assigned to a lengthy trial?

Must we grant time off for rehab?

09/16/2011
Q. An employee recently confided to us that he has a drug problem and would like to take several weeks off to check into a rehabilitation program. May we deny his request?

What kind of time off must we grant for employees to attend school-related activities?

09/16/2011
Q. With the new school year under way, can you ­give me a rundown on the rules governing our obligation to grant workers time off to participate in their children’s school-­related activities?

Understand CFRA leave limits: Employees’ reinstatement rights last just 12 weeks

09/16/2011
The Court of Appeal of California has clarified that employees taking California Family Rights Act leave are entitled to reinstatement to the same or an equivalent job only if they return at the end of their 12 weeks of leave or earlier. They can’t take additional non-CFRA leave to ex­­­tend their return rights.