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Employment Law

Avoid equal pay suit by comparing employees’ duties, not titles

02/01/2001
Laurie Howard was promoted from secretary to HR coordinator for a United Technologies Automotive plant with 53 employees, all on salary. The head of the plant recommended she be promoted …

Inability to work overtime doesn’t mean worker is disabled

02/01/2001
As a senior train operations manager, Clyde Kellogg regularly put in 60 hours to 80 hours a week, including weekends, holidays and at home. That is, until he appeared to have …

Good planning limits fallout from FMLA misunderstandings

02/01/2001
Moira Kelly received an extension of her maternity leave, with one caveat. Her company informed her by letter that she was considered a “key employee” under the Family and Medical Leave …

Having a good business reason trumps speculation

02/01/2001
After Gary Rowe had a kidney transplant, his medication was costing his employer more than $1,000 a month, and his supervisor frequently asked about his condition. When that supervisor had to …

Fear of snakes doesn’t qualify as a disability

02/01/2001
After a hospital switchboard operator heard that a snake had been seen in her workplace, she became hysterical and took leave for several months. When she returned, she was transferred to …

Keep your word: Reversing oral job offer can result in fraud claim

02/01/2001
Charles Cohen says he walked out of a job interview with an oral offer for a new job with an e-business service provider, a company that did work for his current …

High Court to review cap on damages

02/01/2001
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case that could hold down awards in workplace discrimination cases. At issue is whether a $300,000 cap on compensatory damages that …

Legality of arbitration depends where you are

02/01/2001
Before you require employees to arbitrate claims against you, find out whether it will stand up in court. A federal court in California recently barred a law firm from requiring …

How to respond when unions come a knockin’

02/01/2001
No union, no problem. Right? Not really. Even if your company isn’t unionized now, you can’t afford to be oblivious. Just ask Amazon.com. In the thick of the holiday shopping …

State Law Varies on When Clock Tolls for Overtime

02/01/2001

Q. What’s the definition of a standard workweek? One of our employees claims that overtime is defined as anything over eight hours per workday. Is he correct? —P.F., Minnesota