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Employment Law

Alcoholics may be protected by ADA, but don’t tolerate at-work drinking

04/01/2004
You may be surprised to discover that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) may protect workers who are alcoholics, even if they currently drink. To earn ADA protection, an alcoholic’s addiction …

Include fair geographical and time limits in noncompete pacts

04/01/2004
Noncompete agreements are easier signed than enforced. So your noncompete restrictions must give the person a “reasonable opportunity” to pursue a livelihood in his or her chosen field.
What’s considered …

Can you land in trouble for trying to stop harassment? Yes

04/01/2004
You know what they say about good intentions. As the following case shows, if your anti-harassment efforts are seen as an attempt to squash a union-organizing bid, you could be slapped …

Attendance policy: Control absenteeism without breaking the law

04/01/2004
THE LAW. Regular attendance is obviously a key job function for most of your employees. But despite your freedom to set and enforce attendance rules, you also face key legal …

Carefully Craft Policy to Avoid Paid-Leave ‘Stacking’

04/01/2004

Q. A pregnant employee eligible for FMLA wants to take the 12 weeks of leave. Our leave policy says an employee on FMLA must first use his or her sick, vacation and personal leave, in that order, before the leave is unpaid. In this case, the employee has enough sick leave for the 12 weeks. But should she be allowed to use sick leave for the entire 12 weeks? Is this in our best interest? —M.P., Texas

Don’t count on total immunity from references

04/01/2004

Q. I have a question about providing honest feedback during reference requests. Is it better to defend the fact that I provided a truthful (negative) assessment, rather than trying to explain why I can’t give any reference at all? Aren’t we protected by negligent referral and reference immunity laws? —M.R., Utah

Anti-bias and sex-harassment training: a 5-point checklist

04/01/2004
Issue: Failing to train employees on discrimination and harassment can prove a costly mistake, but so is training them the wrong way. Benefit: Effective and ongoing training signals your “good-faith” …

3 privacy ‘musts’ for securing employee data

04/01/2004

Issue: You’re responsible for securing sensitive employee information. Benefits: Privacy measures and policies protect employees from identity theft and privacy invasion. Actions: Refine your privacy policy, institute a proper …

When does ‘religious expression’ cross the line?

04/01/2004
Issue: You must walk a fine line between allowing employees’ religious expression and preventing that expression from harming the business or creating unbalanced treatment of employees. Benefit: Federal law says …

Include ‘work-on-site’ requirement in job description

04/01/2004
Issue: Must you include a position’s most obvious requirements, such as working at the job site, in employees’ job descriptions? Risk: Misunderstandings can spark lawsuits from employees who are eligible …