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Employment Law

Driving on company business: Who’s liable?

01/16/2009

Q. Say an employee driving his own car on company business to make a bank deposit gets into an accident and is slightly injured. Is it his responsibility to go to his own doctor to seek immediate treatment and then to the workers’ comp doctors? And who covers the damage to the car?

Can we set different sick policies for different offices?

01/16/2009

Q. We have two offices in two different states. In one office, we have a sick leave policy in place because we have exempt employees, and the FLSA requires us to have the policy if we want to dock exempt employees for sick time after they exhaust their sick days. All employees at the second office are hourly, and they rarely call in sick. Can we have a policy at one location and not at another?

Are we required to send job-offer letters?

01/16/2009

Q. Are we required to give applicants official offer letters? What does a letter have to spell out?

Tell victims how to report future harassment

01/16/2009

Here’s how to end a co-worker sexual harassment case when your organization decides not to discharge the alleged harasser.

Beware shifting explanations for firing

01/16/2009

If you have to terminate an employee, don’t fall into a trap that can easily lead to a lawsuit. Don’t provide conflicting reasons for the termination or drop one when the employee or the EEOC asks for details.

Report shows mixed results for Chicago’s female execs

01/16/2009

The Chicago Network’s 2008 census report, Breaking Away, showed mixed progress for women executives in the greater Chicago area.

Suspect FMLA leave shenanigans? Follow the law’s certification requirements

01/16/2009

Sometimes, employees whose vacation requests are turned down try to get time off by producing a doctor’s note. Some even up the ante by trying to claim FMLA leave. If you really believe an employee is trying to pull a fast one, you have two options if you want to avoid possible FMLA interference charges.

Rely on union contract terms when working out disability accommodations

01/16/2009

Dealing with a labor union has its headaches, but figuring out how to deal with disability accommodations isn’t one of them. The fact is, having a collective-bargaining contract in place can make that easier.

Ask attorney for help in structuring joint ventures to limit employer liability

01/16/2009

Good news if your company is involved with another firm in a joint venture that includes provisions for sharing labor and workers’ compensation insurance costs: Employees working under the joint-venture agreement can’t sue you for damages relating to injuries covered by the workers’ compensation system.

No vote required: Government workers can organize with cards

01/16/2009

The Illinois Supreme Court has ruled that public employers have to accept a union as their employees’ bargaining representative if the union shows that a majority of the employees have authorized union dues deduction.