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Employment Law

Require certification if intermittent leave ‘Need’ might be bogus

06/01/2007

It’s one of the most challenging FMLA problems: An employee with a chronic health condition says she needs intermittent leave and uses it as an excuse to take time off whenever she wants. You suspect she’s taking advantage of your organization, but worry that turning her down may trigger an FMLA lawsuit …

Watch wiretap law when listening in on disciplinary meetings

06/01/2007

Have you ever wished you could have a verbatim record of an HR conversation, just as a hedge against a “he said, she said” dispute in court? Don’t hide a tape recorder under your desk until you’ve considered this …

Log for leave requests can save the day

06/01/2007

Problem employees—the kind that see discrimination, harassment and retaliation every time a supervisor so much as issues an oral warning for anything—won’t hesitate to sue and charge retaliation. They may even seek redress for minor slights by requesting FMLA leave and trying to trip you up if your response is not to their liking …

Minor lifting restriction? You probably don’t have to accommodate under the ADA

06/01/2007

The ADA is designed to help disabled Americans work to their full potential. But the law wasn’t meant to apply to everyone with minor aches, pains and ailments. That’s why most employees with light lifting restrictions aren’t covered by the law …

Avoid liability for contractor’s actions by staying out of its business

06/01/2007

Consider this scenario: Your organization needs to have repairs done to your premises and you hire an independent contractor to do the job. When one of the workers is hurt after the contractor ignores obvious safety hazards, is your organization on the hook if the injured employee looks around for deep pockets to sue?…

After winning the lawsuit, city lost its insurance

06/01/2007

The city of Fort Oglethorpe had to scramble to find insurance after the Georgia Interlocal Risk Management Agency canceled its property and liability coverage due to excessive claims …

Employee caught in detergent sting loses disability case

06/01/2007

An inventory manager lost a discrimination lawsuit against the Atlanta Community Food Bank because he failed to meet the ADA’s disability standard …

Employee running errand still covered by comp

06/01/2007

The Georgia Supreme Court has ruled that a construction superintendent killed in an auto accident was covered by workers’ compensation benefits, even though he was on leave to run personal errands at the time of the crash …

Assembly shoots down bill to allow guns in the parking lot

06/01/2007

The Georgia General Assembly dropped Senate Bill 43, which would have forced employers to let workers keep guns in their cars in company parking lots. The action came just days after the Virginia Tech massacre that left 33 dead …

FLSA and Georgia law: Figuring overtime pay for commission employees

06/01/2007

Georgia’s labor code contains no overtime exemption for commission-paid employees, but the federal Fair Labor Standards Act does. Georgia employers largely follow the federal law because it’s more stringent than state law. So employees who are paid on a commission basis are exempt from overtime laws, right?…