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Employment Law

‘Stop!’ makes harassment complaint count

05/18/2015
Conventional wisdom says that employees who fail to report harassment can’t later surprise us with a lawsuit, since it’s impossible to stop harassment that we never learn about. It turns out that’s not always true.

Hidden disabilities: What’s your duty to accommodate?

05/18/2015
While the Americans with Disabilities Act says you must offer a “reasonable accommodation” to disabled employees, how obvious must the person’s disability be before you fall under that requirement? And what is the employee’s duty to alert you and request the accommodation? As this case shows, courts don’t expect you to play a guessing game with your staff. Employees have a responsibility to explain their conditions and request an accommodation.

NLRB set to clear all cases affected by Noel Canning decision

05/18/2015
According to National Labor Relations Board Chair Mark Gaston Pearce, the NLRB is on track to resolve by June 26 all cases that were returned to it when the Supreme Court ruled that three recess board appointments made in 2012 were unconstitutional.

Can we put travel limits on workers taking FMLA?

05/15/2015
Q. Do we have to let an employee leave the United States to visit his home country while on family medical leave? Are there restrictions? — Terry, New Jersey

Use a last-chance agreement to salvage employee, avoid lawsuit

05/14/2015

Sometimes, a marginal worker shows promise and immediate termination isn’t warranted. Plus, you’re concerned that a lawsuit may follow the firing. In such cases, consider drafting a last-chance agreement (LCA) for the employee. Think of it as hitting the reset button. Here’s what to include in an LCA, pluse a sample LCA you can adopt for your workplace …

‘Your job or your daughter’: Yeah, that’ll draw a lawsuit

05/14/2015
A boss who allegedly asked a subordinate to choose between her job and her daughter will now have to explain his remarks to a jury.

Judge makes it crystal clear: Question about accent not enough for a lawsuit

05/12/2015
Asking a simple question such as what type of accent an employee has or what country he grew up in won’t be enough to prove national-origin discrimination. Courts expect employees to talk to one another and without evidence that curiosity about an accent or a co-worker’s background is tied to some sort of discrimination, judges won’t hold employers liable for national-origin discrimination.

DOL: Beware turning employees into ‘owners’

05/11/2015
When it comes to circumventing the Fair Labor Standards Act, innovation may be born of hardship. The latest employer scheme to avoid paying overtime, workers’ comp premiums and payroll taxes comes out of Utah and Arizona, where several jointly owned construction firms have been requiring employees to become “member/owners” of the businesses.

Retaining younger workers but terminating older ones? Better have a good reason

05/08/2015
If you happen to fire an older worker but retain younger ones, you should expect a potential age discrimination lawsuit. If you’re prepared, you stand a dramatically better chance of winning.

EEOC conciliation process post-Mach Mining

05/07/2015
On April 29, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its unanimous decision in Mach Mining v. EEOC, a case that set new standards for challenging whether the EEOC engaged in a good-faith conciliation process before suing. In the wake of the decision, employers can expect more pre-litigation outreach from the EEOC.