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Employment Law

Houston, we have a problem: $2.5 million for OT violations

05/06/2009

A Houston manufacturing company has paid $1.6 million in back wages to 1,751 employees after a federal investigation revealed the company violated the federal overtime labor law.

Hey, look, we’re on TV! Better fire that guy!

05/06/2009

The U.S. Department of Labor has settled with Triple B Cleaning, a Houston company, that it claims illegally fired an employee who had complained about workplace safety issues to local news media.

$108,000 OSHA penalty for manufacturing company

05/06/2009

OSHA has announced that a Texas manufacturer faces $108,000 in proposed penalties for failing to abate safety violations after a worker died from an electrical shock. In January 2008, OSHA flagged six violations against JD Manufacturing, doing business as Arrow Waste.

Latest IRS COBRA guidance has some surprises for employers

05/06/2009

Employers now have an answer to their single biggest and most vexing question about the elaborate new federal subsidy arrangement under COBRA, but it may not be the answer they were hoping for or expecting.

How can we assess a worker’s alleged learning disability? Do we have to pay for it?

05/06/2009

Q. What kind of documentation can an employer request to verify a worker’s contention that he suffers from a learning disability that requires accommodation? Must we pay for the evaluation?

What is the Employee Free Choice Act?

05/06/2009

Q. Can you give me a rundown on the “card check” law everyone is so afraid will transform labor-management relations?

Talk of one’s gay partner isn’t harassment

05/06/2009

Employers are rightly sensitive about the effects of any kind of sexually explicit talk at work. That’s because some employees are looking for anything to sue over. But now the 2nd Circuit, which has jurisdiction over New York, has handed down a ruling sharply limiting frivolous cases that could have set unrealistic employer obligations.

Being overly friendly isn’t harassment

05/06/2009

Title VII protects employees from discrimination based on sex, and sexual harassment is sex discrimination. That doesn’t mean, however, that every unwanted work relationship is sexual harassment. As a recent case shows, an obsessive interest, unrelated to sex, by one employee in another isn’t prohibited.

Crack down on association discrimination before it lands you in court

05/06/2009

Does your organization allow or tacitly condone it (by ignoring it) when employees criticize a co-worker who associates with members of a different protected class? If so, you should be aware that disciplining that employee can bring on a lawsuit.

Boss who hired also fired? Back it up anyway to defend against discrimination claims

05/06/2009

Employers are often advised to have the same managers who hired an employee also make the termination decision. The idea is that doing so may scuttle a discrimination lawsuit because it’s illogical for a manager to hire a member of a protected class and then turn around and fire him because of bias against that protected class. Don’t use it as an excuse to get sloppy with record-keeping and documentation.