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Employment Law

Blonde hair won’t earn employees Title VII proctection.

07/01/2003
A female worker with blonde hair sued her employer, claiming that her boss’s comments about her tresses were sexist and sexual. A district court ruled that the comments, …

Mentioning employees’ body odor isn’t discriminatory.

07/01/2003
A Muslim IT manager sued for national origin bias, claiming that his supervisor’s comments about his personal hygiene, not performance problems, were the true cause …

Require staff to arbitrate disputes; court upholds ‘partially legal’ pact

07/01/2003
Don’t be leery of requiring employees to sign mandatory arbitration agreements. As the following ruling shows, even if a court disagrees with part of your agreement, …

Comp-time reform bill dealt
major setback in Congress

07/01/2003
Legislators shelved a bill last month that would allow private-sector companies to offer compensatory time to employees in lieu of overtime pay, due in large part to intense protests from organized …

Warning: Feds looking closer at your use of L-1 hiring visas

07/01/2003

A growing number of high-tech workers are complaining that they’re losing jobs not only to foreign workers overseas but also to foreign workers who enter the United States under the little-known L-1 visa category …

Drug testing: Minimize lawsuit risk with smart policy

07/01/2003
THE LAW. You have the right to demand a drug-free workplace, but employees also have reasonable rights to privacy. That’s why drug testing and substance abuse prevention …

Dyslexia and the ADA: Don’t Screen for Disability

07/01/2003

Q. Is dyslexia considered a disability under the ADA? Can we legally screen potential employees for it through our pre-employment tests? —F.D., Ohio

Bonus plans don’t erase your overtime obligations

07/01/2003

Q. We plan to roll out an incentive plan for all employees. The incentive would be calculated monthly but paid quarterly in addition to regular pay. As part of the plan, we are eliminating overtime. Can we still have employees punch in to monitor attendance or can that come back to haunt us if they work extra hours to reach the incentive threshold? —J.B., New Jersey

Cosmetic surgery usually won’t qualify for FMLA leave

07/01/2003

Q. One of our employees is having cosmetic surgery and plans to take leave. Would that fall under the FMLA, or would it be a leave of absence? —K.H., Connecticut

Employee behavior change can count as FMLA ‘notice’

07/01/2003
Issue: You may need to somehow decipher employees’ need for FMLA leave from a “sudden behavior change.”
Risk: Dramatically expands employees’ protection under FMLA.
Action: Warn managers to notify …