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Employment Law

Applicant selling himself short? That’s no reason to pay him less

11/13/2015

Sometimes, applicants don’t know how much money to ask for. That’s especially true if their target employer isn’t open about salary ranges or how much it is willing to pay for a particular job. What should you do if an applicant is asking for less money than the position potentially pays?

Beware the scope of religious accommodations

11/13/2015
Most employers are aware that certain dress and grooming practices generally must be accommodated in the workplace.

Software subtracts ‘idle time’? Beware

11/13/2015
If you use an automated system to track how much time your employees are “working” at their computers, be forewarned. Subtracting those minutes from the workday may violate both the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) provisions and the Minnesota Payment of Wages Act (MPWA). Employees paid on an hourly basis must be paid for all time worked, and subtracting for so-called idle time without some way for employees to correct their pay may mean litigation.

LGBT leader resigns, cites retaliation in firings

11/13/2015
The University of Minnesota at Duluth is still reeling from discrimination charges after it failed to renew hockey coach Shannon Miller’s contract. Miller and three of her coaches, all of whom are openly gay, were terminated.

Must I pay employees for weekend training?

11/12/2015
Q. I have arranged for my nonexempt hourly employees to attend a training session on a weekend, outside of their normal work hours. Must I pay them regular and/or overtime wages for their attendance?

Is nicotine addiction a disability?

11/12/2015
Q. An employee says she must be allowed to take smoke breaks. She claims she is so addicted to nicotine that she has a disability, and that therefore I must accommodate her requirements. If I don’t allow her to take smoke breaks, can she sue me?

Austin software firm sued for pregnancy discrimination

11/12/2015
Austin, Tx.-based e-MDs, which develops software for managing medical practices, faces charges it terminated an employee because she took maternity leave.

Internal complaint doesn’t equal whistle-blowing

11/12/2015

The Texas Supreme Court has ruled that simply complaining to one’s boss  about allegedly illegal activity is not whistle-blowing protected by the Texas Whistleblower Act. Employees must inform law enforcement.

Agencies: Tell staff they’ll get comp time instead of OT

11/12/2015
The Fair Labor Standards Act allows government agencies to offer comp time in lieu of overtime when employees work more than 40 per week. As long as you clearly let employees know that’s how you will treat OT, they can’t complain later.

Same person sends hundreds of applications? Don’t fall into discrimination lawsuit trap

11/12/2015

Sometimes an eager candidate will apply for several jobs with the same employer. If you are sure he or she isn’t qualified, you don’t have to agree to an interview for each open position. Be aware that if you do interview him for one of the positions and choose someone else outside his protected class, he may sue and argue he was much better qualified than whoever you did choose.