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Employment Law

Should HR work space be separated from others?

01/01/2010

Q. We don’t have a lot of space in our office. Our HR staff shares space with administrative employees and some managers. Must we separate the HR staff from others to protect employee records from snooping eyes?

Unionized Workplaces: Management’s Rights

01/01/2010

HR Law 101: Let’s say a union has just won a representation election and now you’ve become a unionized employer. Suddenly, after running your own business, you’ve got a partner. No more unilateral decisions in dealing with your employees …

Just desserts after a 5-year free lunch

01/01/2010

For Anthony Armatys, a job with communications company Avaya was the best job he never took. The Illinois man recently pleaded guilty to theft by deception after he failed to report that Avaya had deposited $469,000 worth of pay into his bank account, despite the fact that he never put in a day’s work for the company. Latest news: He’s scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 8.

What’s the law on hiring a private eye to check for workers’ comp fraud?

01/01/2010

Q. We suspect one of our employees has filed a fraudulent workers’ compensation claim. We would like to hire a private investigator to gather information on the worker’s activities. What laws would govern that decision?

Griddlegate: Pancakes, French toast sweetened state e-mails

01/01/2010

Gov. Charlie Crist has called for an investigation following allegations that Florida Department of Transportation employees used code words in e-mails referring to the state’s pending high-speed rail program. Some e-mails refer to “pancakes” and “French toast,” apparent code words for aspects of the transit. The suspected reason for the syrupy sleight of hand: to avoid having the e-mails discovered through Freedom of Information Act requests.

Handling an EEOC investigation

01/01/2010

Q. A former employee recently filed a complaint against my company with the EEOC. He is alleging race discrimination. As part of its investigation, the EEOC will be coming to our offices to interview employees. Do I have to make these employees available? Can I sit in on the employee interviews?

Preserve employees’ exempt status; give explicit ‘discretion and judgment’ power

12/31/2009

Be wary of applying the FLSA exempt administrative classification to employees simply because they perform office or nonmanual work directly related to the company’s management or general business operations. Such a misclassification neglects the second part of the administrative-exemption test: that the employee’s “primary duty include the exercise of discretion and independent judgment with respect to matters of significance.”

Tell employees on FMLA leave: No working from home

12/30/2009

Because FMLA leave is an entitlement, employers aren’t allowed to interfere with it. And interference can include requiring employees to perform work during their leave. That’s why it’s important to make arrangements for work to be completed without help from the employee on leave.

Using partial SSN as employee ID: Is that legal?

12/29/2009

Q. Can we use the last four digits of our employees’ Social Security number (SSN) as their employee identification number? It would make tracking hours on our log-in time clock much easier.

DOJ turns up heat on USERRA violators

12/28/2009

The U.S. Department of Justice says it has begun increasing its enforcement efforts on employers that it suspects discriminated against military members returning to the private-sector workforce. In the first six months of 2009, the department filed 14 lawsuits based on violations of USERRA.