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Employment Law

Employee tardy due to FMLA caretaking? That’s not legitimate FMLA ‘leave’

04/08/2013
It’s difficult to track which out-of-the-office hours qualify for FMLA leave. But what if the employee comes to work, only to spend much of her time on the cellphone dealing with the relative’s serious health condition?

Flip-side of Yahoo debate: Is flextime required?

04/05/2013

Yahoo’s CEO got caught in a major media firestorm over her decision to eliminate employees’ work-from-home options. But employers should not get Yahoo’s business mandate confused with the legal obligations of every U.S. employer to consider flexible work arrangements for their disabled employees.

When it comes to bias, the customer’s not always right

04/03/2013
Watch out for the old adage that the customer is always right. Take it too literally, and you could be courting employment law liability. Handling customers who ask you to violate the law is tricky.

Payback: Courts strike at NLRB … and the NLRB strikes right back

04/03/2013

The NLRB has been stung several times in recent months, but continues to sting back. First, a federal appeals court ruled that several board members had been illegally appointed. Then an NLRB decision favoring striking health care workers was overturned. Regaining its footing, the NLRB decided to punish a nonunion em­­ployer for discouraging unionization in its handbook.

Long Island caterer ordered to serve up audited financials

04/03/2013
The NLRB has ordered a Plainview catering and food-service company to hand over reams of financial information to the United Food and Commercial Workers union to use in contract negotiations.

Using uniforms, cleansers probably means FLSA applies

04/03/2013
Some employers think they can ignore federal wage-and-hour rules because they are small and don’t hit the $500,000 annual sales volume required to be covered by the FLSA. That rarely works because merely engaging in interstate commerce by using uniforms and cleaning supplies may be enough.

Remind managers: Zip your lips when it comes to pregnancy

04/03/2013

Regularly re­­mind bosses that they should never comment on an employee’s pregnancy, pregnancy-related problems or the desire to have children. Only two responses are appropriate: Congratulate the employee when things go well and offer condolences when they do not. Anything else may be interpreted as discrimination based on pregnancy.

Audit bonus payments to discover any gender discrimination

04/03/2013
There’s a quick and easy way to determine whether your bonus payment program might be tainted by hidden sex discrimination in violation of either the federal Equal Pay Act or the New York Human Rights Law.

As courts define same-sex harassment, beware behavior that crosses a line

04/03/2013
Ever since the United States Supreme Court decided its first same-sex harassment case, employers have struggled to define what is illegal same-sex harassment and what’s not. Now the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals has provided some employer guidance in a case involving male-on-male harassment.

Don’t confuse education with qualifications

04/03/2013

One way for a candidate to prove discrimination in hiring or promotion is to show that he is so much better qualified than other candidates that there should have been no doubt about who got the job. Some candidates mistakenly believe that means if they are the best educated, they win. That’s simply not true.