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Employment Law

Managers’ anti-mom stances can count as discrimination

08/01/2004
Issue: Managers who make assumptions about employees’ abilities to perform the job during and after pregnancy. Risk: A manager’s offhand remark …

Why you need a forfeiture clause in every job contract

08/01/2004

If your organization writes employment contracts for key employees, it may be making one costly mistake: unconditionally guaranteeing salary and benefits to employees, even if they commit misconduct that would warrant firing …

You now can bar ‘friends’ from discipline inquiries

08/01/2004
Issue: When you interview employees about potential misconduct, can they bring a co-worker to the meeting? Benefit: A federal labor panel …

Resignation Notice Policy May Not Be Enforceable

08/01/2004

Q. Is it legal to require management employees to give us a longer resignation period than other employees? —M.L., Missouri

ADA doesn’t give employee freedom to redefine his job

08/01/2004

Q. One of our employees has been out on disability leave for almost 16 months. He says he wants to return to work, but only if we give him a supervisory position without a lot of strenuous activity. We have no such position available. We’ve offered him other positions, but he’s refused them all. Can we legally terminate him? —L.B., North Carolina

Management Lessons From the Court

08/01/2004

Don’t open an employee’s’ personal mail If you know that a letter or package sent to that person at work is personal (not business related). A recent court ruling shows that you may be opening up a legal mess along with the letter …

You can land in trouble for trying to stop harassment

08/01/2004
Issue: Can you encourage employees to report on-the-job harassment from union organizers? Risk: Your efforts may be viewed as an illegal union-busting …

Wal-Mart bias case will give employees bad ideas

08/01/2004
Now would be a good time to review your organization’s hiring, firing, promotion and pay policies for any hint of gender-based differences. Reason: The big Wal-Mart sex discrimination lawsuit that hit …

High court gives ‘quitters’ new legal power

07/01/2004
Don’t make the mistake of assuming that your obligation to investigate a harassment complaint ends when the victimized employee quits.
Reason: The U.S. Supreme Court just ruled that employees who …

Can employees harass co-workers in the name of ‘creativity’?

07/01/2004
If your workplace has a “creative” side to it, listen up: A court has ruled for the first time that you can defend a sexual harassment claim by arguing a “creative …