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Employment Law

Voluntary retirement likely nixes wrongful-discharge suit

10/31/2014
Have you ever urged an employee facing discipline to retire instead of being fired? That’s OK—as long as you provide an alternative, such as allowing the em­­ployee to defend himself by offering his side of the story.

When inconsistency pays: Lack of uniform policy helps get class action decertified

10/31/2014
A federal court has decertified a class-action FLSA case involving several thousand workers at a hospital in Langhorne. The class representative was unable to show that an employer’s policies were uniformly enforced and therefore couldn’t show that the named litigants were “typical” of the entire group.

Prevent fail-to-hire suits by stripping protected characteristics from résumés

10/31/2014
Here’s an easy way to avoid needless failure-to-hire lawsuits: Sim­­ply have someone who is not involved in the initial decision to offer interviews remove risky identifying information from résumés.

Two laws, one condition: ADA disability doesn’t necessarily warrant FMLA leave

10/31/2014
Some employers think disabled employees are automatically eligible for FMLA leave in addition to being entitled to reasonable accommodations. That’s not always true.

New boss isn’t a reasonable accommodation

10/31/2014

Employees who claim that the stress of working for a particular supervisor exacerbates or even creates a disability sometimes think they can request a new boss as a reasonable accommodation. After all, if one supervisor “caused” the disability, then having a different one might “cure” it, allowing the employee to successfully perform her job again. But courts don’t see it that way.

Firing whistle-blower? Prepare for court

10/31/2014

Generally, Pennsylvania employees who aren’t union members or don’t have a written employment agreement are at-will employees who can be fired for any reason or no reason at all. There’s one major exception: Employers can’t fire at-will employees because of their protected characteristics. But there is a second exception gaining prominence in court cases.

Avoid appearance of retaliation against whistle-blowers

10/30/2014
To constitute whistle-blowing, employees must do more than merely state that they are going to complain about the employer’s actions. They must actually do so. Whistle-blowers don’t have to demonstrate an actual violation of the law as long as they have a reasonable, good-faith belief that a violation of the law has occurred or might.

DOL enlists states to conduct more misclassification audits

10/29/2014
The U.S. Department of Labor has opened a new front in its war to crack down on employers that misclassify workers as independent contractors: It’s helping states scour unemployment insurance records for evidence of misclassification.

Bullying prevention training to become mandatory in California

10/27/2014
In a few short weeks, California employers with 50 or more em­­ployees must change their training programs to include new material. Effective Jan. 1, anti-bullying training is mandatory for covered employers thanks to Gov. Jerry Brown’s signature on A.B. 2053 back in September.

Supreme Court clears way for same-sex marriage

10/27/2014

On Oct. 6, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review all seven same-sex marriage cases pending before it. The Court’s refusal to hear the appeals meant that the lower court decisions striking down same-sex marriage bans in Indiana,  Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin took effect right away. The immediate effects are twofold.