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Employment Law

Place disabled worker on leave while mulling accommodations

04/11/2012
What can you do if an employee presents you with medical restrictions that limit his ability to perform essential functions of his job? If it’s clear he can’t actually do the job, you can place him on leave.

U.S. Supreme Court will decide the fate of health care reform

04/10/2012
The U.S. Supreme Court will decide the fate of health care reform before the end of June. No matter how the court rules on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, its decision will affect employer-provided benefits for years to come.

Lady Gaga & the FLSA: A bad romance

04/10/2012
The former personal assistant to Lady Gaga has filed a lawsuit claiming the entertainer failed to pay her overtime. She says she’s owed hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Employee concedes shortcomings? Document it!

04/09/2012

Employees who lose their jobs have an incentive to sue—and they’ll often look for evidence of discrimination to form the basis of their lawsuits. But to win in court, employees have to show they were meeting their employer’s legitimate expectations. That’s hard to do if the employer can show the employee admitted her shortcomings.

Promoted? Judge performance in new job, not old

04/09/2012
Once in a while, promotions just don’t work out. Someone who was great at one job might bomb at another. That’s especially true if the new job involves different skills and talents. Don’t let past performance make you hesitate to discipline.

Employee performance not up to snuff? You must communicate your concerns

04/09/2012
Employers have an obligation to make sure employees know what kind of performance is expected of them. Under no circumstances should you wait until you’re ready to discharge the employee to put criticism in writing. That creates the suspicion that you came up with reasons as a cover for illegal discrimination.

Disability discrimination law in Ohio a mess that needs cleaning up

04/09/2012
It is illegal in Ohio for an employer to discriminate because of the em­­­ployee’s disability. But it’s not always easy to figure out who this proscription covers, because Ohio’s statute and the federal ADA have their own respective definitions of “disability,” which vary slightly.

Harassment or love affair? Depends if it was welcome

04/09/2012
Workplace affairs almost always get messy, especially when they involve a supervisor and a subordinate. But that doesn’t mean that the subordinate is destined to win the case every time. If she can’t show that the affair was unwelcome, she won’t win.

Court: To allege promotion bias, you must have actually applied for the job

04/09/2012
Except in very limited circumstances, an individual must actually apply for a position before he can challenge the decision to hire someone else.

Stop harassment with warning, then follow up to confirm problem was really solved

04/09/2012
Sometimes, all it takes to stop sexual harassment (or behavior that could escalate to harassment) is to tell the individual to cut it out. But you’ll never know if it worked unless you follow up. You should periodically check back with those affected and note their response in your files.