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Employment Law

Arbitration agreement need not designate whom to call

12/23/2013
In order to be binding, an agreement to arbitrate employment-related complaints needs to spell out the process. Employees (and former employees who signed the agreement) should not be left in the dark about how the process works. But you don’t have to include a specific contact person.

Testifying for fellow employee in race case provides retaliation protection

12/23/2013
Employees who testify in an internal investigation, an agency in­­vestigation or in court are protected from retaliation whether or not they belong to the same protected classification as the employee whose case their testimony supports.

OK to ask worker to cancel M.D. appointment; that isn’t the same as denying FMLA leave

12/23/2013
Taking time off for medical appointments is a legitimate use of FMLA leave if the treatment is related to a serious health condition. But that doesn’t mean that em­­­ployees can schedule those appointments whenever they want.

Weigh ‘reasonableness’ when considering ADA time off after employee has taken FMLA leave

12/23/2013
If you can show that the financial and logistical costs are unreasonably high, you don’t have to extend time off as an ADA reasonable accommodation.

NLRB: Walmart threatened Black Friday protesters

12/23/2013
The NLRB has determined that retail giant Walmart threatened retaliation against employees considering staging protests on Black Friday in 2012.

Time off may be reasonable accommodation

12/23/2013
Some employees aren’t very reliable. They call in sick with the slightest excuses—some­­times, right before you are about to discipline them for absenteeism. But what if your employee claims she had a medical emergency and that she has a doctor’s excuse?

Train and track to beat harassment lawsuits

12/23/2013
Employers aren’t required to prevent all harassment—just to stop it when it happens and take reasonable preventive steps. Two of those: Providing anti-harassment training to every employee and tracking who gets that training.

One supervisor slur typically won’t equal a ‘hostile’ workplace

12/20/2013
Courts don’t expect workplaces to be places of complete harmony. However, they do expect employers to take complaints seriously. They want to see that employees are disciplined when they make offensive comments.

Supremes brush off ACA constitutionality lawsuit

12/19/2013
The Affordable Care Act has likely survived its last wholesale legal challenge now that the U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 2 declined to hear an appeal by Liberty University contending that the law’s employer mandate is unconstitutional.

Don’t throw good money after bad: Sometimes it’s best to settle drawn-out cases

12/19/2013
Some lawsuits seem to drag on forever, especially when an em­­ployee’s lawyers endlessly demand access to company documents. Settling those cases for a modest sum may be the best approach if l­itigation is taking over and HR is so busy responding to discovery requests it can’t get other work done.