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Employment Law

The HR I.Q. Test: March ’08

03/01/2008
Test your knowledge of recent trends in employment law, comp & benefits and other HR issues with our monthly mini-quiz … 

When FMLA leave goes beyond doctor’s estimate

03/01/2008
Q. An employee with asthma got medical certification for her intermittent FMLA leave. It said her expected absence frequency was three to five times per month. This month, she took six days off. Must we count the last day as intermittent leave, or can we rely on the upper estimate from her doctor? — B.L., Missouri …

Making demands while employee is on disability leave

03/01/2008
Q. We have an employee on disability leave because she had dental reconstructive surgery due to oral cancer. Shortly after her return, her supervisor gave her a deadline to get her backlogged work done. It may not be a realistic deadline. If we discharge her, can we be in legal trouble? — Anonymous …

Congrats on winning! Do you really want attorneys’ fees?

03/01/2008
Sometimes, when an employee files a frivolous suit, it’s tempting to seek payback. If you succeed in getting the litigation dismissed, why not insist the losing employee pay attorneys’ fees and court costs? Before you throw good money after bad, consider whether you want your attorneys to spend even more time trying to get the employee to cough up …

Paper trail cuts both ways if it shows unequal discipline

03/01/2008
You know you should document problems and violations before disciplining an employee who previously performed well. You create a paper trail showing warnings, counseling and efforts to get the employee back on track. But if the employee you disciplined can show that others with the same shortcomings got off, that paper trail may come back to haunt you …

360° evaluations help when charge is ‘Failure to get along’

03/01/2008
Courts are naturally suspicious when employers trot out subjective discharge reasons like “not a team player” or “fails to inspire subordinates,” which may mask an underlying discriminatory attitude. One way to add credibility to subjective evaluation criteria is to ask co-workers and subordinates for their confidential assessments …

Denied training opportunity isn’t necessarily discrimination

03/01/2008
It’s not discrimination for an employer to offer training to some employees but not others—if the training doesn’t lead to greater pay, advancement opportunities or other tangible benefits. Simply put, employers don’t have to worry about discrimination lawsuits if their decisions are based on solid business reasons …

Non-Minorities can’t sue on basis of minority discrimination

03/01/2008

Good—and somewhat obvious—news: Job applicants who are not members of a protected class can’t sue for discrimination on the basis that an employer’s hiring practices discriminate against minorities …

Conduct age audit to show you don’t favor young workers

03/01/2008
In tight economic times, you may have to trim staff to save money. Undoubtedly, some of those RIF victims will be older. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that you will be on the losing end of an age discrimination lawsuit. To check where you stand, do a quick age audit …

Counter retaliation claims by tracking PHRC and EEOC filings, internal complaints

03/01/2008
One of the easiest ways for employees to win discrimination cases is to allege that their employers punished them for complaining about alleged discrimination. Often, employees win those retaliation cases even while losing the underlying discrimination complaint. But employers can defeat retaliation charges by showing that the employee never complained in the first place …