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Employment Law

State lawsuit finished? Now brace for federal case

06/09/2015
Don’t assume case is over after state court case ends. A recent case shows that even after a decade of litigation, the former employee may add a second federal lawsuit.

When hiring, never consider or mention military reserve obligations

06/09/2015

Federal law protects applicants who belong to the military reserves from discrimination based on their service, and considering their military obligations when making hiring decisions is illegal. If anyone involved in hiring ex­­presses reluctance to hire a candidate because of his or her service, expect legal trouble. Make absolutely sure you had valid reasons for picking other candidates.

When employee has FMLA history, beware punishing for suddenly going home

06/09/2015
It’s almost always inconvenient to have an employee suddenly leave in the middle of a shift. But if the under­­lying reason is an FMLA-covered con­­dition and he gave you enough information to make you realize the time off might be covered by the FMLA, think twice before punishing the early departure.

After FMLA leave, watch timing of firing

06/09/2015
Generally, employees who take FMLA leave are only entitled to their job back if they are able to return to work right after their 12 weeks of time off expires. Imme­­di­­ately terminating the employee without a good reason may backfire, because it could be seen as retaliation for taking leave.

Retailers react to white-collar OT prospects

06/09/2015
Retail and restaurant employers will likely respond to the upcoming rewrite of white-collar overtime rules by converting salaried managers to hourly employees, cutting pay, reducing benefits and bonuses and reducing workers’ hours, according to a new study by the National Retail Federation).

Don’t tell harassed worker to ‘move on’

06/08/2015
A new employee says her co-worker has sexually harassed her. You investigate and discover she’s telling the truth. You discipline the co-worker. Is that the end of the matter? Not if the new employee won’t stop talking about what happened and it’s beginning to interfere with her ability to get her job done.

DOL’s new FMLA forms are valid for three years

06/05/2015
The U.S. Department of Labor has finally gotten around to revising its official FMLA forms on more than a month-by-month basis.

Minimum wage wars move to local level

06/05/2015
Los Angeles is the latest municipality to stop waiting for federal or state action on minimum wage legislation. The L.A. City Council voted 14-1 to raise its current $9 an hour minimum wage to $15 by 2020, a move that will give a pay raise to half the city’s workforce.

Review policy after Supreme Court scarf ruling

06/05/2015
Consider amending your dress code policy in light of a June 1 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of the EEOC in a case that pitted fashion retailer Abercrombie & Fitch against an Oklahoma teenager who wasn’t hired after wearing a Muslim headscarf to a job interview.

OK to call employee who is on FMLA leave–just keep the conversation short and sweet

06/03/2015

Employees out on FMLA leave are supposed to be freed of their regular work responsibilities. They are on leave, after all. Some supervisors have taken this to mean that they may never call an employee who is out on FMLA leave to discuss work-related matters. That’s not entirely true.