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Employment Law

Former superstars aren’t immune from scrutiny

05/19/2014
The best approach to dealing with declining performance is careful and meticulous record-keeping showing expectations and how the employee isn’t meeting them. Objective facts trump the employee’s feelings that she is being discriminated against for some reason.

Would a disability accommodation work? Test and see

05/19/2014

Let’s say you have an employee who is returning to work from an injury. The ADA requires you to offer her a “reasonable” accommodation, but you want to make sure the accommodation is safe. So you decide to have the employee demonstrate that accommodation to see for yourself. That’s a smart move … just make sure you follow through on the demonstration.

Work stoppages fell as union membership declined

05/16/2014
Union membership has been falling for decades. In 1983, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that 17.7 million Americans carried a union card, about 20.1% of the working-age population. By last year, that percentage had dropped to 11.3%.

11 employment laws (almost) every employer must follow

05/13/2014
Federal employment laws can be terribly confusing, particularly because they often have different definitions for the size of businesses that must comply. Use the following list to make sure you’re not spending time and money complying with laws that only apply to larger businesses.

Driving change: New N.Y. law targets worker misclassification

05/12/2014
New legislation that went into effect April 10 is intended to curtail misclassification of transportation industry workers as independent contractors instead of employees.

No bling for EEOC: Judge blasts mishandling of bias claim

05/12/2014
The EEOC had one of its long-running cases dismissed after a federal judge in Buffalo criticized the commission’s handling of a discrimination case against Sterling Jewelers.

Violence against woman isn’t automatically sex bias

05/12/2014
While it’s always unacceptable, just because a man hits a female co-worker doesn’t mean she has a sex discrimination or harassment case.

Quickly addressing alleged retaliation saves the day

05/12/2014
You probably tell supervisors they shouldn’t punish employees for filing internal or EEOC discrimination complaints. That doesn’t mean employees who complain won’t perceive re­­tali­­ation in every slight change in their work situation. How you react can mean the difference between winning or losing a retaliation lawsuit.

Workplace tiff doesn’t mean workplace was necessarily a hostile environment

05/12/2014
Some employees seem to think that any uncomfortable situation at work can become the basis for a lawsuit. Fortunately, they are wrong. Co-workers don’t always get along, but that’s hardly grounds for a hostile work environment charge.

For a quick trip to court, allow casual accommodations for some but not others

05/12/2014
Here’s a tip that can save you from a needless lawsuit: Make sure managers and supervisors aren’t using their own judgment about who deserves a job accommodation for medical reasons.