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Employment Law

Supreme Court outlook: Key employment issues at stake

09/01/2001
Look for the U.S. Supreme Court to tackle several important business issues this fall, including what constitutes a disability and when a claim is officially filed. The court will open its …

Timecard Adjustments OK

09/01/2001

Q. Our employees punch a time clock and then go to job sites. Sometimes they don’t take a lunch break. But when they do, they’re unable to clock out and back in, so there’s no time record. Can a manager adjust the timecard by marking through the daily total and deducting the lunch time? –A.P., Virginia

Get Certification Before Granting FMLA Leave

09/01/2001

Q. An employee told her supervisor that she needed surgery. We approved time off under the FMLA with the understanding that she would provide certification after the leave began. We later discovered that this “necessary” procedure was liposuction. Can we revoke approval of medical leave under FMLA and convert sick hours used to vacation hours instead? Can we fire her based on inappropriate use of the FMLA? —T.S., Florida

Beware OT Calculation When It Involves Bonus Pay

09/01/2001

Q. We have an add-on to wages of $100 if an employee who’s not scheduled to work gets called in within 72 hours. The employee gets paid for the hours worked at his normal wages, with time and a half if it adds up to overtime. The $100 is then added for the hours worked, and taxes are calculated on these earnings as usual. Is this a legal way of rewarding employees for coming in on short notice? –J.S., Oklahoma

Uneven Comp-Time Policy Can Cause Trouble

09/01/2001

Q. Our company manual doesn’t address compensatory time off, but we have offered certain exempt managers an hour of comp time for every hour of overtime worked. Do we have to pay them for accrued comp time when we terminate them? In the past, we’ve paid comp time to some and not to others. Can we negotiate our own terms with each employee? —E.B., Oregon

Manager’s insubordination wins protection

08/01/2001
Jane Foster had a tough decision: Follow the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or follow her boss’s orders. She went with the ADA and got fired. But a court has ruled …

Poorly drafted policies grant unintended rights

08/01/2001
Dr. Tina Thomas, an optometrist with Pearle Vision Inc., requested maternity leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). After all, a summary of employee benefits said “all employees with …

Worker who can’t perform her job isn’t entitled to intermittent leave

08/01/2001
While Minnie Hatchett was on a business trip, a hotel skylight crashed down on her head. As a result of her injuries, she could perform routine work, such as answering phones …

Splitting hairs: When is a no-beard policy illegal?

08/01/2001
Two recent court cases help draw the boundaries on how far you can go with a razor. Federal Express recently settled a lawsuit involving its no-beard policy and a Muslim …

Employees in ‘unique’ jobs can use broad comparisons to show pay bias

08/01/2001
Nancy Kroh successfully sued for gender discrimination, claiming her male colleagues were treated more favorably. But on appeal, the court tossed the award out. The com-pany convinced the appeals court that …