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

Employment Law

6-year deadline to file whistleblower suit

02/12/2016
The Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled that a whistleblower who reports alleged violations of the law has a full six years to file a lawsuit. The more common two-year limitation does not apply.

Exempt or nonexempt? That depends on actual duties, not title or job description

02/12/2016

Don’t expect a quick ruling when challenged on whether and employee has been properly classified as exempt or nonexempt.

New EEOC guidance would redefine retaliation

02/11/2016

The EEOC has issued a proposed revision to its guidance on workplace retaliation—the first since 1998—that could radically change how enforcement authorities and courts define retaliation and its causes.

Disabled worker must request accommodation

02/11/2016
Employees who claim they are disabled and need an accommodation must do two things: Tell their employer that they are disabled and request a reasonable accommodation.

Postpone discipline while awaiting FMLA certification

02/10/2016
It can take a long time to process an FMLA request, especially if the employee doesn’t promptly respond to demands to provide medical certification of the need for leave.

11.1% of workers belong to a union, membership rate held steady in 2015

02/10/2016
The union membership rate—the percent of hourly and salaried workers who were union members—was 11.1% in 2015, unchanged from 2014, according to the latest numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Audio recording at work may violate NLRA

02/04/2016

The National Labor Relations Board has issued a new ruling that only solidifies its activist posture of the last few years.

Worker takes patient records, university pays HIPAA fine

02/04/2016
Lest there be any doubt that employers are ultimately responsible for keeping confidential information under wraps, consider the case of the University of Rochester Medical Center. It is now paying for a security breach that was entirely preventable.

Triborough Bridge & Tunnel Authority settles PDA claims

02/04/2016
The Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority has agreed to settle charges it discriminated against female officers by automatically transferring them to less desirable assignments when the officers revealed they were pregnant.

Isolated, mild comments don’t add up to legitimate lawsuit

02/04/2016
Some terminated employees think that all they need to do to build a winning lawsuit is recall an offensive comment a supervisor once made. That’s not usually true.