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Employment Law

Track timing on discrimination suits; missed federal deadlines can kill state claims, too

10/27/2009

Here’s another good reason to push for early dismissal of employee lawsuits when it’s clear the employee has missed an important filing deadline: Doing so may kill state claims that have yet to be filed—if those claims are based on the same facts.

Have solid reason before firing employee on FMLA leave

10/27/2009

Employers can terminate employees who are on FMLA leave if the employers are sure they can later prove to a jury that they would have made the decision to terminate whether the employee took leave or not. That’s a tough burden, so you must make sure you have a solid reason—and you must document it.

NJLAD protects people perceived as handicapped

10/27/2009

Employees don’t have to actually be handicapped to be protected from discrimination under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD). It’s enough that an employer perceives them as handicapped. As the following case shows, it doesn’t take much to send such a case to a jury trial.

EEOC: Company illegally used credit, criminal records

10/27/2009

The EEOC has cited national convention marketing firm Freeman Companies with discriminatory hiring practices based on the company’s use of applicants’ credit scores and criminal background checks in hiring. According to the complaint, the credit and criminal background checks are neither job related nor of business necessity. The EEOC alleges they screen out otherwise qualified women and minority candidates.

When figuring time worked, you must round in employee’s favor

10/27/2009

The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL) has changed its enforcement policy regarding the rounding of employees’ time for wage payment purposes. A recent letter from Theodore Easton, chief of enforcement for the NJDOL, confirmed that if a New Jersey employer rounds off any increment of time an employee has worked, it must now be done in the employee’s favor.

Beware disciplining employees for FMLA-related tardiness

10/26/2009

Employees eligible for intermittent FMLA leave are entitled to take that leave at the beginning of their scheduled shifts if they need to. While that may make them late for work, you can’t punish that tardiness, as long as the employee follows your call-in policies and the underlying reason for being late is related to intermittent FMLA leave.

Check calendar when employee files lawsuit covered by employment agreement

10/26/2009

A federal court hearing a North Carolina case has dismissed a discrimination lawsuit based on failure to file that lawsuit within a shortened time limit that the parties had agreed they would use.

EEOC charges Mount Gilead modular builder with race bias

10/26/2009

According to an EEOC complaint, Professional Building Systems has subjected African-American employees at its headquarters in Mount Gilead to harassment that included drawings depicting the workers and members of the Ku Klux Klan.

How one missing poster doomed an Atlantic City hotel

10/25/2009

Outdated workplace posters aren’t just a minor mistake that, at worst, could trigger only a small fine. As a new court ruling shows, poster mistakes can actually breathe new life into supposedly dead employment lawsuits …

10 minutes well-spent: Audit your employee bulletin board

10/23/2009

When was the last time you reviewed your company’s bulletin boards in the break room or alongside the time clock? Do they show the correct, updated federal- and state-law posters? A little time spent seeing what’s there—and what’s missing—will keep you in compliance with state and federal laws.