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Employment Law

Track intermittent leave meticulously when you offset FMLA time with paid leave

07/01/2008
Employers are allowed to substitute paid time off for unpaid FMLA leave. But employers have to let employees know that’s what they are doing. And that can get tricky if the employee is taking intermittent leave for a chronic condition, plus leave for other personal needs such as vacation or mild illness …

Read EEOC complaint carefully: Employees can’t later expand lawsuit

07/01/2008
Typically, an employment discrimination lawsuit starts with an EEOC complaint. That document is often an employer’s first notice that an employee plans to take an employment dispute to court. Review it thoroughly to determine the scope of the problem. If the employee later tries to add additional discrimination claims, you’ll be prepared to point out that they didn’t appear in the original EEOC allegations …

A funny thing happened while you were out of the office

07/01/2008
Huntington Township Assessor Joan Stoffel has filed a lawsuit claiming a new state law that phased out elected township assessors is unconstitutional. Stoffel is seeking class-action status on behalf of more than 100 township assessors …

‘I am the law’ cop costs town $5,000

07/01/2008
When Ryan Belcher and his fiancée, Daraina Gleason, broke down on the Indiana Toll Road in February 2004, Bill’s Professional Towing hooked up their van and towed it to a lot in Orland. Four days later, Belcher and Gleason went to Bill’s to remove some items from the van …

Loved, lost: Crafting effective workplace dating policies

07/01/2008
Many companies that otherwise permit co-workers to date draw a bright line that prohibits managers from being romantically involved with those who report to them, either directly or indirectly. There are many good reasons for such a prohibition … Consequently, many companies maintain strict nonfraternization policies between supervisors and subordinates.

Paying for noncompete agreement?

07/01/2008
Q. We are a small company that has to aggressively market ourselves to our customers in order to compete with larger suppliers. To protect our client base, our COO wants to require our sales force to sign a noncompete/
nonsolicitation agreement. If we want our salespeople to sign off on a noncompete agreement, do we have to give them anything in exchange, like a bonus? …

Repeating sexual harassment training

07/01/2008
Q. How often should a company conduct sexual harassment training for its supervisors? …

Unmarried co-Workers, childbirth and FMLA leave

07/01/2008
Q. Two of our employees (they aren’t married) are having a child together. I know that spouses who are employed by the same company have to share the 12 weeks of FMLA leave following the birth of a child. How does it work for unmarried parents in a workplace? …

List all recent problems when citing reasons for firing

07/01/2008
Even when an employee has been performing poorly for some time, it’s tempting to cite just the latest problem as the reason for termination. But if you list just one firing offense, you run the risk that the employee might prove the discharge reason you used is false. That could give her a chance to take her case to a jury …

Some Sundays off doesn’t require giving every Sunday off

07/01/2008
No doubt you know that you have to make reasonable accommodations for employees’ religious practices. But how much accommodation must you offer, and must you apply it all the time across the board? If someone says they must attend religious services every Sunday, can you discourage him from taking a job because you can’t guarantee he’ll be off every week? …