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

Employment Law

Ease strict noncompete pacts or risk wrongful discharge claim

03/01/2002
As part of a merger, Aetna U.S. Healthcare required employees to sign an agreement barring them from working for a competitor in the same state for two years or any competitor …

More reason to avoid overtime violations: Steeper penalties

03/01/2002
The U.S. Labor Department has recently jacked up its penalties for violating minimum wage, overtime or child labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The 10 percent increase in fines …

Study: Race colors perceptions of workplace discrimination

03/01/2002
A new national survey of 1,000 workers portrays sharply different views of how minorities are treated at work, and should serve as a wake-up call to employers. One key …

Age-bias lawsuits: The costliest battles

03/01/2002
Getting slammed with a discrimination judgment is bad. And the worst are age discrimination cases. Reason: A new study from Jury Verdict Research shows that the median jury award in age-bias …

Stress leave: How much must you accommodate?

03/01/2002
Do any of these situations sound familiar? At Aon Corp., which lost many workers in the World Trade Center attack, groups …

‘Volunteers’ at for-profit companies: Should they be paid?

03/01/2002
Traditionally, volunteers donate their time to nonprofit groups, like the American Red Cross, without an expectation of being paid. Such true volunteers aren’t covered by wage and hour requirements of federal or …

Capping Sick Pay

03/01/2002

Q. One of our managers has medical problems (she qualifies for the ADA and is in an age-protected class) and has used a significant amount of sick pay. Because we don’t have a defined sick pay policy, this manager is paid sick time whenever she’s out (full day or half day). How can we legally cap this? Is the development of a policy with specific hours our only alternative? —F.E., Georgia

Night-Shift Liability

03/01/2002

Q. Our company doesn’t have a policy on night shifts, but we’ve asked one of our hourly employees to work from 1 to 9 p.m. without any supervision. If something should happen to the employee while on night duty, are we liable for it? I’ve checked with my state labor department and workers’ comp office, and they say we’re not. —L.R., Florida

‘Working’ Supervisors and Exempt Status

03/01/2002

Q. We have an hourly worker who oversees both the maintenance and housekeeping departments and supervises two employees. In this job, he has the authority to hire and fire, but he also is a “working” supervisor who performs maintenance in and around the property. Can his status be changed to salary/ exempt? —T.W., Texas

Ex-employees: Gone but not forgotten Courts’ broader definition of ’employee’ expands your liability

02/01/2002
Who are your employees? Seems like a pretty simple question. But, as in several aspects of employment law, the answer may surprise you. Two recent court rulings illustrate how, in …