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Employment Law

Is FMLA leave optional when employee has adequate sick leave to cover her absence?

07/24/2009

Q. We have an employee who is going on eight weeks’ leave for a qualifying serious health condition. She isn’t requesting to use FMLA leave because she has enough paid sick leave. Can employees choose not to use FMLA leave even though they qualify?

Help! I’m confused about comp time, flextime

07/24/2009

Q. Can you please clarify if and when we can offer comp time to our employees? What’s the difference between comp time and flextime?

Can an employee earn sick time while out on workers’ comp?

07/24/2009

Q. One of our employees is out on workers’ comp. Our contract says “no sick time will be lost or deducted” while employees are out on workers’ comp. But now he wants to know if he continues to accrue sick time and holiday pay while not working. Does he?

Are we liable for wages we didn’t pay while employee was waiting for drug test results?

07/24/2009

Q. We suspected an employee was using drugs, so we sent him to be tested. We told him he couldn’t work until the test came back in two days. The results were negative. Do we owe him wages for those two days?

How can we legally combat tardiness?

07/24/2009

Q. Some of our admin assistants are good employees, but they’re constantly late. What can we do to get them to come to work on time?

Can we cut the pay of maxed-out employees?

07/24/2009

Q. We have some employees who are earning the maximum salary for their job classifications. Can we cut their pay if we feel they’re overpaid?

Employee filed EEOC suit? Stifle your anger

07/24/2009

Just heard an employee has filed an EEOC complaint against your company? Whatever you do, don’t lash out in anger! It’s one of the worst things you can do. Raising your voice, making threats or otherwise showing your displeasure are surefire recipes for more litigation.

Allow religious days off if at all possible

07/24/2009

Employers are required to reasonably accommodate employees’ religious beliefs. That can include adjusting work hours, such as not scheduling employees to work on worship or holy days. Never punish an employee who tells you he must miss work for religious reasons unless you have considered possible accommodations.

Turn to legal or immigration experts when facing wage-and-hour complexities

07/24/2009

If you employ seasonal labor, import employees from other countries and make payroll deductions for their equipment and transportation, you may want to hire an expert in visas and seasonal labor. That’s what saved one employer from double damages and an extra year of liability.

Make sure employees understand policy and process for reporting sexual harassment

07/24/2009

Employers can do plenty to stop sexual harassment, but employees have obligations, too. If the company has a process for reporting co-worker sexual harassment, employees must follow it. Otherwise, they lose the right to complain. That’s why you need a sexual harassment policy that gives employees the information they need to come forward.