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Employment Law

High Court invalidates DOMA, creating uncertainty for Payroll

07/12/2013
The U.S. Supreme Court on June 26 ruled that Section 3 of the federal Defense of ­Marriage Act—the section that limits marriage to heterosexual couples for federal benefits—unconstitutionally denies legally married same-sex couples equal protection. The Court specifically mentioned the taxability of health benefits for same-sex spouses, an issue the IRS must now address.

Employment status notification bill proposed

07/10/2013
A bill before the North Carolina House of Representatives would require employers to give employees notice of their employment status at the time of hire and when any material change in the employment relationship occurs.

High Point firm hit with $1.5 million harassment verdict

07/10/2013
High Point-based New Breed Logistics apparently has some old boy problems at its Memphis, Tenn., location. A warehouse supervisor’s misdeeds have now cost the company $1.5 million, plus legal fees, after a federal jury found the company guilty of harassing and firing three female temporary workers.

Admitted wrongdoing is grounds for discharge

07/10/2013
If you think an employee has broken a rule, ask her. If she admits she did, that’s reason enough to terminate her. Just make sure you ask the question of every suspected rule-breaker before disciplining them.

Don’t worry that an innocent mistake will doom your case

07/10/2013
Employers sometimes mess up for perfectly innocent reasons. Everybody makes mistakes, and courts are usually quite hesitant to punish those mistakes if there’s no evidence showing some nefarious intent to harm an employee.

Think twice before firing employee who needs to take short disability leave

07/10/2013
Too many employers assume they can simply discharge a worker who isn’t yet eligible for FMLA leave, doesn’t have any other leave available and can’t work for a short period of time. That’s simply not always true. If the employee qualifies as disabled under the ADA, he may be entitled to a short leave as a reasonable accommodation.

Warn bosses: Shut up about working women!

07/10/2013
The office is no place to discuss gender roles or women’s presence in the workplace. Be sure to warn supervisors against such talk, even in private.

Worker hinting at harassment? Provide policy

07/10/2013

You probably make sure all your employees have read your sexual harassment policy. That doesn’t mean they always follow it. If an employee is hinting that she’s being harassed, your best approach may be to hand her another copy and urge her to report any problems right away.

It’s now harder to sue for bias, retaliation

07/10/2013

Good news for employers: A pair of U.S. Supreme Court rulings handed down on June 24 will make it more difficult for your employees to file lawsuits against your organization, claiming discrimination or retaliation. Here’s the impact for HR:

Scrub protected-class info from résumés

07/09/2013
Here’s a simple way to keep many disappointed applicants from filing needless lawsuits: Make sure someone removes any application or résumé information that indicates race, national origin or other characteristics belonging to a protected class before the information is passed on to whoever makes the initial screening decision.