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Employment Law

Plan any deductions for personal calls

11/01/2000

Q. We allow employees to use their company-issued cell phones for personal purposes up to a certain number of minutes every month. A recently discharged employee exceeded her monthly allotment. Can we recoup the cost of these extra minutes by withholding the amount from her last check? —P.P., South Carolina

Management meeting counts as work time

11/01/2000

Q. Last week, we asked a nonexempt employee to come in 30 minutes before her regular start time to talk to her about a complaint that had come to our attention. Do we have to pay her for the time spent in discussions with management? —G.B., Kentucky

Test for illegal drugs OK under ADA

11/01/2000

Q. Our company wants to begin screening applicants for illegal drugs. Can we make job offers conditional on the results of a drug test? —K.P., Louisiana

No need to give ‘bonus points’ to disabled applicants

11/01/2000
Nancy Houser suffered a severe elbow injury at work, making it impossible to use that arm for lifting in her warehouse job. The company transferred her to greeting visitors …

Year-old pay comparisons can show bias

11/01/2000
Carol Broadus did it all, from building computers to training employees to fixing problems, all for an hourly rate that equaled about $22,000 a year. But within …

Series of ‘minor’ incidents
can add up to hostile environment

11/01/2000
Cheryl Conner blew away her male co-workers in skills training for her new metal-processing job. The trouble started when she went from the classroom …

Be wary of limiting workers’ job prospects

11/01/2000
Because a temporary staffing agency wanted to protect its investment in recruiting and hiring temps, it made its temps sign restrictive covenants preventing …

Setting a ‘no restrictions’ policy could open you to ADA lawsuits

11/01/2000
Rhonda Otting took leave to control her epilepsy through surgery and medication. When the doctor released her to return to work as a J.C. Penney sales associate …

Know the law on what’s considered paid and unpaid on-call time

11/01/2000
Electronic technicians for Oklahoma Gas & Electric were required to monitor pagers and home computers while they were on call nights and weekends. Even though …

Don’t ‘shoot the messenger’, retaliation claim will usually stick

11/01/2000
Restaurant manager Peter Ball knew that one of his waiters was preparing to sue the restaurant for unpaid overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). When Ball alerted the company …