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Employment Law

Can we install in-Plant security cameras without telling employees?

07/01/2007

Q. We have a theft problem in our plant. Our plant manager would like to install security cameras at key locations and exits, and would like to do this without telling our employees so that we can catch the guilty party. Is there any reason why we should not proceed with installing the cameras? …

You are required to notify employees who have been exposed to air contaminants

07/01/2007

Q. What are the requirements for eliminating welding fumes? According to recent air contaminant testing, our employees are exposed to fumes that exceed the permissible limit. Michigan OSHA (MIOSHA) has not inspected us. Are we required to notify MIOSHA or the federal OSHA of the test results? Are we required to notify anyone else? …

Essential job functions may include shift work

07/01/2007

Q. We have a three-shift operation, and all employees are required to rotate and work on each shift. We are reviewing an employee’s request to be excused from moving from the day shift to the afternoon shift. The employee’s doctor says that his patient should not work the afternoon and midnight shifts for medical reasons, which we believe are valid. Are we required to honor this request? …

Incentive pay hours don’t count toward the 1,250 hours required for FMLA leave

07/01/2007

Q. We are a hospital and we give employee “bonus” hours if they agree to work weekends and at other times that are difficult to staff. An employee has requested FMLA leave to care for a family member. Our employee has actually worked less than the FMLA-required 1,250 hours in the year, but because of the bonus hours, she has been paid as if she worked more than 1,250 hours. Does she qualify? …

Count only hours actually worked for eligibility

07/01/2007

Do you have special incentive programs to make weekend work attractive to employees? If your program pays workers “credit hours” for time not actually worked, you don’t have to include those hours toward FMLA eligibility …

OK to apply different discipline standards to new employees

07/01/2007

If you classify employees as either permanent or probationary, you can apply different disciplinary standards to the different classifications. That’s true even if the employees perform the same job and violate the same rules …

Don’t post promotion opportunities? It’s time to reconsider

07/01/2007

Think twice if your company relies on informal in-house recommendations to fill open positions. The courts look suspiciously on such “networking” promotions and land hard on employers that don’t post job openings …

Track all disciplinary actions to head off disparate-Treatment claims

07/01/2007

When employees sue under the employment discrimination laws of Ohio, they often allege disparate treatment and try to show their employer treated members of their protected class (e.g., age, race, sex) more severely than other employees. The key to a good defense lies in tracking each and every disciplinary action when it occurs …

Prompt action by management is key to winning hostile-Environment lawsuits

07/01/2007

The Ohio Fair Employment Practices Act makes it illegal to subject employees to a racially hostile work environment. But not every hostile act does a lawsuit make. Much depends on management’s response to such hostility …

Melee in Medway: The Rough-and-Tumble World of Buckeye Banking

07/01/2007

Security National Bank & Trust (SNB) is responsible for a manager who literally kicked a customer out of the Medway branch office, the Ohio Court of Appeals has ruled …