• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Employment Law

Set Policy, Check State Law for ‘Snow Day’ Pay

04/01/2003

Q. An ice storm recently knocked out power in 87 percent of the city. Our company had no power from Sunday until Wednesday. Some hourly employees showed up to work Monday because they live in surrounding counties and didn’t know about the outage. Are we obligated to pay those who showed up but were unable to work? —D.K., Kentucky

Audit your classifications before requiring overtime

04/01/2003

Q. What are the legal ramifications of requiring all employees to work a minimum of 45 hours a week (nine hours a day)? Everyone in the office is an exempt employee. —S.M., New Jersey

Don’t Require Direct Deposit

04/01/2003

Q. Can a business require employees to use direct deposit of paychecks? —N.C., Kansas

One ‘come-on’ can equal sexual harassment

03/01/2003
Don’t hesitate to discipline first-time sexual-harassment violators. Even one outrageous comment or act, if severe enough, can make your company liable for fostering …

Lower-level bias can illegally taint firing decision

03/01/2003
When it comes to discrimination affecting your company’s hiring and firing decisions, what you don’t know can hurt you. That’s why it’s important to reiterate …

Anyone can challenge medical inquiries, not just disabled workers

03/01/2003
Don’t let your guard down when interviewing someone who doesn’t appear to suffer from a disability. If you ask an illegal question, anyone can hit you with …

Fast fix to FLSA error can save you, but ‘correction window’ closes fast

03/01/2003
If you screw up on a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) pay issue, don’t count on the “window of corrections” to save you. Sure, this Labor Department rule allows you to …

Your safety rules outweigh employee ‘personal appearance’ rights.

03/01/2003
Company dress codes will withstand any legal challenge if they’re gender-neutral and involve a legitimate business reason. Recent example: A county prohibited …

Simple pain complaint doesn’t count as FMLA notice.

03/01/2003
A worker who previously fractured his coccyx told his boss he was “in pain from his tailbone” and needed to go to the doctor that day. Although the boss told him …

Don’t conspire with competitors to freeze workers out of a job

03/01/2003
Never agree with another company to refrain from hiring each other’s employees unless your workers and the other company’s workers sign the agreement. Reason: …