• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Employment Law

Air quality complaint isn’t basis for retaliation claim

04/15/2010

The Illinois Indoor Air Quality Act is designed to reduce indoor pollution. It tasks the Illinois Board of Health with enforcing statewide indoor air quality standards, because encouraging good air quality is good public policy. However, the law doesn’t specifically offer whistle-blower protection to employees who voice complaints about their workplace air quality.

Warn bosses: No criticism for filing bias complaint

04/15/2010

Now’s a good time to remind supervisors and managers that they must keep a cool head if an employee threatens to take a complaint to the EEOC or the Illinois Department of Human Rights. Angrily accusing the employee of insubordination or disloyalty will probably be viewed as retaliation for engaging in protected activity.

Feel free to impose legitimate discipline on employee, even if she’s on FMLA leave

04/15/2010

Perhaps you have faced this situation: An employee is about to be disciplined, but suddenly applies for FMLA leave. She begins her leave while the discipline is pending. Do you have to wait to punish her? Not if you can clearly show that the punishment is for legitimate reasons and not related to her FMLA leave.

When documenting hiring processes, be sure to track rejected job offers, too

04/15/2010
Here’s a tip for avoiding lawsuits over alleged discrimination. Don’t keep statistics just on the employees you hire. Track those to whom you offered a job, but who turned it down, too.

Employee doing more than one job? Make sure all fit FLSA exempt status

04/15/2010

In these hard economic times, lots of businesses are restructuring jobs to cut costs. Sometimes that involves assigning an employee to perform two very different kinds of work. If you find yourself asking exempt employees to double up like that, be careful not to run afoul of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Make sure that both jobs being performed fit into one of the exempt categories—though not necessarily the same one.

Beware FMLA trap in no-fault attendance policy

04/15/2010
Lots of employers have no-fault attendance policies, which allow a certain number of unexcused absences without any documentation, and then punish employees who go beyond allowable limits. No-fault policies are fine—as long as they don’t penalize workers for taking FMLA time off.

Alcoholics still have to follow work rules

04/15/2010

The ADA protects people who are alcoholics from discrimination based on their disability. That doesn’t mean, however, that alcoholic employees don’t have to follow standard workplace behavioral rules. Simply put, alcoholism isn’t an excuse for poor behavior—and you don’t have to tolerate it.

Can we reduce pay for exempt employee who will miss work for intermittent FMLA leave?

04/15/2010
Q. One of our salaried supervisors has informed us that he needs to take two hours off work each week for the next two months to undergo medical treatment. His physician has certified his illness as a “serious health condition” under the FMLA. May we reduce his pay for the time he will miss work, or are we required to continue to pay his full salary to retain his exempt status under the Fair Labor Standards Act?

What are our obligations to prevent employees from accessing Internet porn at work?

04/15/2010
Q. All of our employees have Internet access at their workstations. We have heard rumors that several employees have been visiting pornographic and other inappropriate web sites, and displaying and disseminating objectionable material to others in the workplace. Even though we have not received a formal complaint, do we have an obligation to address this now? What steps can we take to avoid these problems?

Florence company to pay quarry workers for back overtime

04/15/2010
The U.S. Department of Labor has announced that Cobra Stone will pay its quarry workers $364,403 in overtime back wages. The Florence-based company, which produces natural stone for construction projects, will pay the back wages to 169 current and former employees.