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Employment Law

Firing during FMLA leave may mean personal liability

02/05/2014
In a bizarre legal twist, the 5th Cir­­cuit Court of Appeals has ruled that a supervisor who was sued over his decision to terminate an employee for taking FMLA leave may be personally liable for terminating her—despite the fact that the public employer may be immune to an FMLA lawsuit.

There’s one foolproof way to win discrimination lawsuits

02/05/2014
When you evaluate whether a former employee may sue you successfully over her discharge, consider this: If you replaced her with someone belonging to the same protected class, she’ll have a hard time winning a lawsuit that claims you were biased against her class.

USERRA: Beware any reference to military service when justifying discipline

02/05/2014
USERRA makes it illegal to discriminate against those who serve. Counting the time off required for reserve personnel to train violates USERRA. Make sure you don’t count it.

How to dodge an FMLA bullet: Consider granting after-the-fact leave request

02/05/2014

Sometimes, simple medical procedures turn out to be not so simple after all. A few days off for outpatient surgery may morph into a lengthy FMLA leave and render the employee disabled. Don’t jump the gun and terminate the employee without considering whether he’s now entitled to FMLA leave and reasonable accommodations.

Best way to stop failure-to-promote lawsuits: Include qualifications in job announcements

02/05/2014
Want to avoid unnecessary lawsuits over whether an applicant is qualified for a job opening or promotion opportunity? Then make sure your job announcement includes specific information about minimum requirements so that those don’t become the basis for a lawsuit.

Obama to order higher minimum wage for fed contractor employees

02/05/2014
President Obama plans to issue an executive order requiring federal contractors to pay employees at least $10.10 per hour, starting in 2015. The announcement came during Obama’s State of the Union address.

You don’t need absolute proof to fire

02/05/2014

Employees are entitled to fair treatment, but that doesn’t mean HR has to become a court of law and prove beyond a reasonable doubt that an employee did something deserving of discharge. As long as you reasonably believe an employee broke a rule or other­­wise did something deserving of discharge, a termination will stand up to a legal challenge.

Telling employee to reschedule her doctor appointment: Is that legal under the FMLA?

02/05/2014
Taking time off for medical appointments is a legitimate use of FMLA leave if the treatment is related to an employee’s serious health condition. But that doesn’t mean em­­­ployees can schedule doctors’ appointments whenever they want.

Demographic shift sparks new job-bias risks

02/04/2014
The U.S. workforce is in the midst of a sweeping demographic makeover, bringing new ethnic, national-origin and religious diversity—and new legal risks for employers.

Handbook Audits

02/02/2014

HR Law 101: If it’s been awhile since you last overhauled your employee handbook, you may be courting disaster. You should establish a regular revision schedule and update your handbook once a year or whenever significant statutory or other changes occur …