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Employment Law

How should we reconcile competing demands of insurance plan, COBRA?

01/07/2010

Q. Our health maintenance organization contract calls for terminating coverage for anyone who moves outside the HMO service area. COBRA requires us to offer continuation coverage to qualified beneficiaries even if they move outside the HMO service area. How do I comply with these requirements?

OK to withhold commissions from employees who violate fiduciary obligations

01/07/2010

The Texas Payday Act allows employees to sue for commissions earned but unpaid after termination. But that doesn’t mean that employees are always owed such commissions. If they violated their fiduciary duty to their employers by disclosing confidential information to a competitor, it’s legitimate to withhold pay.

FMLA isn’t ‘discipline shield’: Fire for unrelated actions

01/06/2010

Employees sometimes think taking FMLA leave—or even just asking for the time off—protects them from being disciplined or discharged. But Congress never intended the FMLA to act as a shield against legitimate discipline that’s unrelated to the leave. That’s why you’re free to discipline or discharge employees if you can prove you would have taken the same action regardless of the FMLA leave or request.

Lawsuit-free hiring: The 5 laws you need to know & 4 steps you need to take

01/06/2010

When it comes to employment lawsuits, HR is a lot like flying an airplane: The most risky parts of the trip are at the takeoff (hiring) and the landing (dismissal). With hiring, you can limit the employment-law risks by following the legally safe steps and training supervisors to do the same.

Want to get bosses’ attention on bias problems? Remind them they can be held personally liable

01/06/2010

Here’s a powerful reason for managers and supervisors in New Jersey to understand the ins and outs of discrimination and labor laws. If they commit a discriminatory act, they could be personally liable.

New job requirement can be good reason for discharge

01/06/2010

In these tough economic times, employers often have to find ways to do more with less—such as cutting some positions and adding new duties and responsibilities to others. That means some employees will no longer be qualified for their jobs.

And to think the original idea was to reduce litigation!

01/06/2010

When Prudential Insurance instituted alternative dispute resolution (ADR) to handle employee discrimination charges, it never imagined the move would lead to a decade of litigation. According to lawsuits filed by 236 former and current Prudential employees, the ADR process established in 1999 is nothing more than a sham.

Rutgers settles race bias case with maintenance workers

01/06/2010

Four minority maintenance workers have settled their race discrimination case with Rutgers University. According to The Star-Ledger, the workers—three black and one Hispanic—alleged they were consistently passed over for promotion in favor of white employees.

On tap in Trenton: NJLAD could ban autism bias

01/06/2010

People with autism would be among those protected by the NJLAD if measures introduced in the state Assembly and Senate pass. The bills would make it illegal to discriminate in employment because a person has autism. New Jersey has the highest incidence of autism in the country with one out of every 94 children showing some symptoms of the condition.

Required by law or not, make harassment training mandatory

01/06/2010

Although California, Connecticut and Maine are the only states with laws requiring workplace harassment training for supervisors, employers in other states have followed their lead in an effort to reduce liability for ill-informed behavior of employees, decrease the cost of litigating complaints of harassment and create a more hospitable work environment.