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Employee Relations

Show your defense cards early in the lawsuit game

01/01/2006

By having a tough anti-discrimination policy and a clear complaint procedure, you establish what lawyers call an "affirmative defense," meaning you have a weapon to defend yourself in court. But you must put forth those affirmative defenses very early in a lawsuit …

Same job titles don’t demand the same pay

01/01/2006

While the Equal Pay Act prohibits wage discrimination against women, make sure you and your supervisors realize that it doesn’t require every employee in the same position to earn the same salary. If you can point to factors other than gender (seniority, education, experience, skills, etc.), you can set radically different salaries for employees who hold the exact same job …

Avoid Impromptu Job Reviews; It’ll Look Like a ‘Paper’ Job

01/01/2006

Warn your supervisors that if they quickly schedule negative employee reviews—particularly after an employee files a complaint—they could appear to be papering the employee’s file in advance of a retaliatory firing, which won’t look good in court …

Pay closer attention to rising employee insecurity

01/01/2006

Almost a quarter (23.8 percent) of the people answering a new Right Management Consultants survey say they think it’s very possible or somewhat possible that they could lose their jobs in the next 12 months …

Can you require employees to speak English around customers?

12/01/2005

A narrowly tailored English-only policy that is designed to serve legitimate business needs is not discriminatory, says the EEOC. To be valid, the policy should spell out when English is required and let employees converse in any other language at all other times …

Cell-Phone Policies: Be Safe, Not Sorry

12/01/2005

Q. We’re considering giving cell phones to our field employees, rather than desk phones. What kind of policies should we have in place for personal cell calls on those phones? —J.B., Florida

Harassment victims aren’t immune from discipline; document actions

12/01/2005
Retaliating against employees for filing harassment complaints is an obvious no-no. But that doesn’t mean employees automatically earn a “Do not touch” label …

When is employee insubordination protected?

12/01/2005
Issue: If an employee believes a boss’s order is illegal, she can refuse to do it. And you can’t punish her for that defiance.
Risk: You could run afoul of …

Look into all bias complaints; even ‘nontargets’ can sue

12/01/2005
Issue: Employees who are negatively affected by workplace discrimination can file lawsuits, even if they aren’t the targets.
Risk: The EEOC is encouraging such whistle-blower suits, which opens a new …

Don’t try to silence employees who compare pay & perks

11/01/2005
Issue: The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) makes it illegal to punish employees for discussing pay, benefits or working conditions.
Risk: Many employers believe that such NLRA restrictions apply only …