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Employment Law

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07/01/2006
Login Email Address Password I forgot my password To continue reading this page, become an HR Specialist Premium Plus member today! Your subscription includes: Ask the Attorney: Answers to your HR legal questions Compliance Guidance: Access to 7,000 HR news articles, updated daily, sorted by state State-by-State: Summaries of HR laws in all 50 states […]

‘Pizza snub’ doesn’t equal religious bias

07/01/2006

A boss bought pepperoni pizza for all employees one day, but a Muslim employee felt slighted because, she said, the boss knew of her religious beliefs about eating pork …

Consistency Erases Risk of Light-Duty Jobs

07/01/2006

Employers who use light-duty programs to cut workers’ compensation costs often make one big legal mistake: They apply their policies haphazardly, allowing some employees to take light-duty jobs, but not others. That inconsistency is the fastest way to trigger discrimination lawsuits …

Employees’ Seniority Trumps Disabled Co-Workers’ ADA Rights

07/01/2006

If you award first choice of promotions, shifts, vacation slots and other perks based on employees’ seniority, you’ll face a dilemma if a disabled employee requests an ADA accommodation that conflicts with that policy …

Have an Affirmative Action Plan? Protect Against Reverse-Bias Claims

07/01/2006

In the HR world, your actions sometimes fall into the “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” category. This is one of those cases …

Placing Employee on ‘Involuntary’ FMLA Leave Is Perfectly Legal

07/01/2006

When an employee calls in sick with an apparently serious ailment, you can place that employee on FMLA leave, even if he or she never asks. f you reasonably believe she has a serious health condition, you can start the 12-week FMLA-leave clock ticking …

Equal treatment is absolutely essential after employee’s complaint

07/01/2006

It may seem patently obvious, but judging from the number of lawsuits alleging retaliation these days, many employers still don’t understand the importance of equal treatment following a complaint …

Analyze Severance Agreements for Plain-Language Readability

07/01/2006

When it comes time to downsize or reorganize, one of the most common risks you’ll face is age-discrimination claims. That’s why it’s best to have departing employees sign severance agreements in which they waive their rights to pursue age-related claims …

Breaching employment contract can nullify noncompete clause

07/01/2006

The best way to protect against employee poaching—and against employees using your organization as a training ground to start their own competing firm—is with a solid employment contract and noncompete agreement. But it will mean nothing if you break the agreement first …

‘Ministerial exception’ isn’t free pass for religious groups to discriminate

07/01/2006

If your organization is a religious institution, you may not have adopted anti-discrimination policies or practices because you think you can rely on the “ministerial exception.” But, as a new case shows, that may not always be the case …