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Employment Law

You can apply rules more stringently to employees with greater responsibility

12/04/2008

Do you sometimes worry that every decision you make about an employee’s rule-breaking must be absolutely fair and that there is only black and white, but no gray? If so, rethink that idea.

Act quickly to fix safety violations

12/04/2008

Employers that take OSHA and state agency safety violations seriously probably won’t face additional legal troubles outside the workers’ compensation system if an employee is later hurt or killed. Ignore those reports, and employees can sue for unlimited damages …

Cautionary tale: Video cameras provide powerful evidence

12/04/2008

Here’s a cautionary tale you can tell employees when explaining they should never touch a fellow employee. With video surveillance cameras everywhere, such incidents may be caught on tape, and the employee doing the touching may have an innocent explanation that just won’t be heard over what seems to be happening on camera.

Employee contracts prevail, even in wartime

12/04/2008

The U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals has sent to arbitration a case against Blackwater Worldwide brought by the family members of four guards who were killed in Iraq.

Durham cops under investigation for slurring Obama

12/04/2008

Two Durham police officers are being investigated for allegedly posting racially charged comments about President-elect Barack Obama on their MySpace web pages in the days following the election.

Audit calls for executive oversight of state health plan

12/04/2008

An executive body should administer the health insurance plan that covers some 650,000 North Carolina teachers and state employees, not the legislative committee that currently oversees it, says an audit report released by State Auditor Leslie Merritt.

Choose your words carefully to avoid ‘accidental contracts’

12/04/2008

Most employment contracts are written documents prepared with the assistance of an attorney. However, an employment contract can be oral, written, or partially oral and partially written. If an employer isn’t careful, it’s easy to unknowingly enter into an employment contract with an employee.

Must we allow former employees access to personnel files?

12/04/2008

Q. A former employee has contacted our HR manager demanding a copy of her personnel file. Must we make this available?

How should we handle time off for workers who are emergency volunteers?

12/04/2008

Q. Several employees at our manufacturing facility on the coast are volunteer firefighters and medics. What obligations do we have to those employees who have to miss work to respond to a hurricane or other emergencies?

Can we charge higher premiums for smokers’ health insurance?

12/04/2008

Q. I know North Carolina has a smokers’ rights law. Does this law, or any other law, prevent our company from charging smokers and nonsmokers different group health insurance premiums?