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Employment Law

Post vacation schedules only for employee viewing

06/01/2005
Issue: To assist in planning, organizations often post employee vacation schedules, especially during summer.
Risk: Some employees may protest, saying it’s an invasion of privacy that makes their house more …

Collect proof of FMLA medical leave the right way

06/01/2005

If you think employees are fudging their FMLA medical leave, how often can you request medical certification? The U.S. Labor Department recently gave employers added latitude to dig into suspicious FMLA claims …

Prevent the damage from employee defections

06/01/2005
Issue: How to stop employees from disclosing confidential data, or jumping to a competitor and stealing your employees.
Benefit: You can stop defectors from raiding your business, but only if …

Don’t require employees to visit a psychologist

06/01/2005

Q. Can we require an employee to receive psychological counseling or treatment if his behavior has become a hindrance to his job performance? —N.M., Kansas

Pay for uniform-Change time if job requires it

06/01/2005

Q. Do we have to pay employees for the time they spend changing into their uniforms before work (and out of their uniforms afterward)? We’re a hospital and our operating-room personnel must change clothes. —E.T., Maryland

Sharpen your no-solicitation policy with precise language

06/01/2005
Issue: How to stop employees from promoting a union organizing campaign on company time.
Benefit: A correctly worded no-solicitation policy gives you the power to legally squash in-house organizing efforts. …

Female employees can sue for ‘potty parity’

06/01/2005
Don’t make different bathroom-break rules for the different sexes. Case in point: A manufacturer’s new factory had only one restroom, which was designed for men. Female employees could use that restroom …

Build an impenetrable age-bias shield

05/01/2005
In light of the Supreme Court’s recent landmark age-bias ruling, you should schedule time in the coming weeks to review your organization’s policies, from hiring to compensation and layoffs, to find …

Base bilingual hiring decisions on language skill, not ethnicity

05/01/2005
Like many employers, you may have legitimate business reasons for hiring bilingual employees. Federal anti-discrimination laws allow you to target bilingual employees, as long as you use their language skills, not …

Smaller raise can count as ‘adverse action’ that triggers lawsuit

05/01/2005
Make sure your employee evaluation process includes clear-cut instructions and guidance for managers on how to link performance with compensation.