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Employment Law

Telecommuting a reasonable accommodation?

07/15/2014
Q. We have an employee with a disability who has requested to work from home part time as an accommodation for her disability. Are we required to grant this request?

Separation agreements: Use arbitration agreements instead of claims releases?

07/15/2014
Q. We have seen that some companies are requiring their employees to agree to arbitration rather than a release of claims in their separation agreements. Is this an alternative worth exploring?

How should we manage family leave that isn’t covered by the FMLA?

07/15/2014
Q. We hired an employee just a few months ago, so he does not qualify for leave under the FMLA. He has requested intermittent time off to care for a family member. We would like to allow him to take the time off, but we aren’t sure how to handle the situation outside of the FMLA. What is your advice?

New EEOC guidelines expand legal protections for pregnant employees

07/15/2014
Employers can now be required to provide accommodations to this class of workers.

Dakota County, Minn. workforce center settles disability case

07/15/2014
The Dakota County Burnsville Work­­force Center has agreed to settle federal charges that it discriminated against a client by perceiving her to have a disability.

MHRA plaintiffs can now have juries decide their cases

07/15/2014
Effective Aug. 1, plaintiffs filing complaints under the Minnesota Human Rights Act may take their cases to a jury. Before, MHRA plaintiffs had their complaints heard by judges.

New medical marijuana law may be strongest in nation

07/15/2014
On May 29, Gov. Mark Dayton signed Minnesota’s new medical mari­­juana bill into law. Unlike similar laws in other states, this law specifically amends a state law—the Minne­­sota Con­­trolled Substance Act—to carve out exemptions for those permitted to use medical marijuana.

Just reporting wrongdoing isn’t enough to trigger protection

07/15/2014
Minnesota law presumes at-will employment—that workers can be fired for any reason or no reason as long as no law makes the firing illegal. However, employees can’t be fired for refusing to engage in illegal activity.

‘No-call, no show’ termination isn’t adverse employment action

07/15/2014
Under Minnesota’s whistle-blower law, employers can’t punish employees for reporting wrongdoing to authorities. Even so, it’s still legitimate for employers to enforce existing workplace rules.

Employee has full year to file Minnesota Human Rights Act complaint

07/15/2014
The Minnesota Human Rights Act has a one-year deadline for filing complaints with the state or a local human rights commission. Does that mean that an EEOC complaint filed within one year but after 300 days is timely? According to a recent decision, yes.