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Employment Law

Quit over offensive graffiti? He can get unemployment

02/03/2012
Here’s another reason to act fast when an employee complains about offensive graffiti in the workplace: He can quit and collect unemployment compensation benefits.

You can terminate someone on FMLA leave–as long as reason has nothing to do with FMLA

02/03/2012
Some employees mistakenly believe that if they take FMLA leave, they can’t be terminated. That’s not true. The FMLA regulations even allow employers to fire employees on FMLA leave before they return—if they can show the termination was unrelated to leave.

Subpar employee fired for good reason? He can still sue for FMLA retaliation

02/03/2012
Many employers don’t realize that they can still be sued for FMLA retaliation by a terrible employee that they fired for perfectly legitimate business reasons if there’s a possibility he was punished for requesting or taking FMLA leave.

Warn bosses: No disparaging military service

02/03/2012
If a member of the National Guard or reserves is terminated, he or she can use the statement to show that military service was a motivating factor in that termination. That’s all that’s required under USERRA.

Let ’em know: Post all promotion opportunities

02/03/2012
Here’s an easy fix for a potentially big problem: Post all promotion openings. If you do, only employees who actually apply can take you to court. That can save thousands in legal fees and lost productivity. It also signals to employees that you value them and encourage equal opportunity.

Pay cut for poor work? Document carefully

02/03/2012
If an employee isn’t working as hard as you expect, reducing his pay might conceivably provide enough of a kick in the pants that he’ll pick up the pace. As long as you carefully document why you are making the pay cut, he won’t win a discrimination case even if his pay puts him at a lower level than others outside his protected class who perform the same job.

Is there a way to ensure sensitive investigation records remain confidential?

02/02/2012
Q. One of our employees has just filed an internal complaint claiming that she has been sexually harassed. We are concerned that if we discipline the alleged harasser based on our findings and note this incident in his personnel file, he may demand to inspect our investigation records. May we avoid this by maintaining a separate investigation file?

Beware defamation claims based on discipline write-ups

02/02/2012

Remind supervisors and managers to stick with verifiable and documented facts when writing up an employee for poor performance, a mistake or other disciplinary matter. That’s because a false write-up could be grounds for a later defamation lawsuit.

Carefully review sudden claims of disability during discipline

02/02/2012

Some employees, forced to confront poor work habits, workplace mistakes or other disciplinary problems, decide to tell their employers that they have a disability. Don’t take the bait.

Be sure to document the effective date of all new disciplinary policies

02/02/2012
When you change a disciplinary policy, make sure you document exactly when the change went into effect. That way, an employee who is punished more severely can’t point to the earlier disciplinary actions as evidence he was unfairly singled out.