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Employment Law

Length of Job Doesn’t Figure in Contractor Status

10/01/2002

Q. We’re an at-will employer. Is there a law (or advisable benchmark) regarding how long we can hire temporary staff before they must be either hired on a permanent basis or released? —D.A., Michigan

Dole Out Stipends in a Nonbiased Way

10/01/2002

Q. Is it legal to offer some employees, but not others, stipends to help with education, rent or lodging? —N.G., California

No job application needed to sue for hiring bias

09/01/2002
When a University of Arkansas dean position was advertised on campus and statewide, Howard Lockridge, an African-American department chairman, told his supervisors he wasn’t planning to apply for the job. …

Be consistent in reasons for layoffs

09/01/2002
When a Wisconsin company restructured, it laid off a 44-year-old customer service rep. None of her direct supervisors or co-workers took part in deciding which employees would be laid off. But …

Challenge workers’ comp claim based on personal problems, gossip

09/01/2002
While working as a bus driver and instructor for a school district, Carrie Geredes had a not-so-private affair with a co-worker. After the affair ended, she heard that her former lover …

You don’t have to bargain with union formed by coercion

09/01/2002
During an organizing campaign at a clay processing plant, pro-union senior staffers routinely threatened production and maintenance employees, telling them to support the union or else they’d be “squeezed like a …

Bias claim goes nowhere unless minority status was clear

09/01/2002
When Steven Lubetsky applied for an analyst job, he aced the interview and several competence tests. The company offered him the job pending a credit check. Lubetsky explained that he was …

Keep political affiliation out of hiring decision

09/01/2002
Gary Goodman was an acting district manager with a spotless performance record over 18 years. He was turned down for a promotion to district manager of a state agency whose governing …

Sleeping on the job doesn’t pay–this time

09/01/2002
The manager of a group home was required to work a regular, eight-hour day and remain at the home overnight. He was paid for a standard, 40-hour workweek and sued, alleging …

Military service counts toward FMLA eligibility

09/01/2002
Ordinarily, workers are eligible for unpaid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) after working for at least 12 months at a company and clocking at least 1,250 hours …