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Employment Law

More States Push Workplace Conscientious-Objector Laws

03/01/2006

State legislatures in about 20 states are actively considering legislation that would provide new legal protections to health care employees who refuse to provide care that conflicts with their personal beliefs …

Fighting a unionization effort: do’s and don’ts

03/01/2006

Union membership has fallen dramatically in recent decades, but the labor movement is far from dead. The biggest change: In 2005, the breakaway "Change to Win" movement seized control over one-third of the powerful AFL-CIO’s unions. Change to Win lured the unions away by promising to shift the focus from political activism to organizing as many U.S. employers as possible. Is your business next? …

Be wary of disciplining for false complaints

03/01/2006
Q. We have an employee who has filed several sexual harassment complaints. But when we investigate, they turn out to be false. Can we do something about her? —J.P., Oklahoma

Can you deduct overtime from bank of FMLA hours?

03/01/2006

Q. Can an employer deduct or count overtime hours from an employee’s FMLA balance? Our employees work overtime only from October through December. During that time, they’re required to work 12-hour days, seven days a week. We have several employees on both continuous FMLA and intermittent leave, and we’d like to deduct the overtime hours they would have worked from their FMLA allotment. What do you think? —J.A., Nebraska

Steer Clear of ‘Take It or Leave It’ Early-Retirement Offers

03/01/2006

If you plan to lay off employees, structure early-retirement offers carefully to avoid age-discrimination lawsuits. In particular, avoid making "take-it or leave-it" offers that force employees to choose between resigning with a severance package or being terminated …

6 common mistakes made during investigations, training

03/01/2006

Are your anti-harassment efforts legally bulletproof, or are they full of holes? Probably somewhere in between, if you’re like most employers. Here are six holes that need patching in many employers’ training and investigation practices …

Fitness-for-Duty Letters Trigger Instant Reinstatement

03/01/2006

Must you allow an employee to return after FMLA leave if you don’t think she’s physically ready? She could injure herself if she returns. But if you block her return, you could face a failure-to-reinstate FMLA lawsuit. Begin the return-to-work process earlier to see if she still has the ability to perform the job’s essential functions …

Don’t require staff to give emergency contact info

03/01/2006

Q. We’re cleaning up our personnel files and updating emergency contact information. Some employees don’t want to provide their contact information. Is it legal for us to require them to give it to us? —S.S., California

Cutting hours is legal, but anticipate bias claims

03/01/2006

Q. Can we legally reduce the hours of full-time employees in one of our divisions because this division needs to cut overhead? —J.B., Massachusetts

Who pays the tax on gift cards given to employees?

03/01/2006

Q. We plan to give gasoline gift cards to employees as incentives for picking up additional shifts. Are these cards taxable? Can we, the employer, simply pay the employee’s portion of the taxes? —T.M., Pennsylvania