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Employment Law

Disciplining tardy, exempt employees

12/01/2007

Q. We have an exempt employee who is consistently late a few times a week, arriving anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of hours late. Can we discipline him for being consistently late? In addition, can we require him to work at set times—for example from 9 am to 5 pm? …

Don’t share HR files that wipe out attorney-Client privilege

12/01/2007

If you want to avoid airing your organization’s dirty laundry in public, take note: Before you turn over a copy of an employee’s personnel record, go through the file carefully. Remove any correspondence between the HR office and your attorney. It is technically privileged communication …

Unless there’s discipline, it’s not religious discrimination

12/01/2007

Employees whose employers turn down requests for time off to attend religious services can’t just run out and sue for religious discrimination. They have a case only if their employers discipline or discharge them for refusing to comply with the work requirements—for example, by skipping work to attend services …

Firing after FMLA leave makes ADA request irrelevant

12/01/2007

Employers sometimes find themselves in tricky situations: An employee who has exhausted FMLA leave cannot return to work yet, but might be able to after more time off as an ADA accommodation. In effect, the ADA may extend leave if the employee is disabled. But a new case shows that an employer’s quick action may stop the clock …

ELCRA lets employees go back only 3 years to show hostile work environment

12/01/2007

Sometimes, employees who finally come forward and allege they worked in hostile work environments will reach back years—even decades—to catalog the harassment they claim they experienced. The sheer weight of the list may unfairly sway juries. But fortunately for Michigan employers, there is no continuing-violation claim available under the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act …

It’s not a crime to require applicants to sign arbitration agreements

12/01/2007

Employees have sometimes tried to apply a pair of Michigan criminal laws against employers that include arbitration agreements in employment applications. Now a federal court has declared that those criminal statutes don’t apply. You don’t need to fear that making an employee sign the application will subject you to criminal penalties or imprisonment …

With health trust fund, UAW-Chrysler contract echoes GM

12/01/2007

The contract reached in October by the United Auto Workers (UAW) and Chrysler closely resembled the UAW’s earlier agreement with General Motors, cutting wages for new workers and moving health care into a union-run health plan in exchange for job guarantees and bonuses …

Club manager, golf pro resign in wake of harassment suit

12/01/2007

The general manager resigned and the head golf pro was fired at Egypt Valley Country Club in Ada after a former assistant golf pro filed a $100,000 lawsuit over sexual bullying …

Sales tax tax taxes retailers

12/01/2007

No, that’s not a typo. As a result of Michigan’s new business tax, retailers are paying taxes on the 6% sales tax they collect from customers. Under the Michigan Business Tax (MBT) enacted in June, sales taxes must be counted along with sales under gross receipts, which are then subject to a gross receipts tax …

RCI Inc. guilty of hiring illegal immigrants

12/01/2007

Richard Rosenbaum, former president of RCI Inc., pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court, Western District of Michigan, to multiple counts of harboring illegal immigrants, tax evasion and fraud. Rosenbaum owes $16 million in restitution to the federal government and must forfeit more than $1.1 million in personal assets …