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Employment Law

Is it OK to pay workers just once a month?

09/24/2010
Q. Is it legal to adopt a once-a-month payroll for hourly employees?

Is dyslexia an ADA disability?

09/24/2010
Q. Is dyslexia considered a disability under the ADA? Can we legally screen potential employees for it through our pre-employment tests?

Does the FMLA cover cosmetic surgery?

09/24/2010
Q. One of our employees is having cosmetic surgery and plans to take leave. Would that fall under the FMLA, or would it be a leave of absence?

May we ask applicants about criminal records?

09/24/2010
Q. We’re going back and forth on this question: On an employment application, can we legally ask about an applicant’s prior conviction record or arrest record?

Doylestown bans discrimination on basis of sexual orientation

09/24/2010
The Doylestown Borough Council has unanimously passed an ordinance banning discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations based on sexual orientation. The law protects lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual people from discrimination.

Judge approves disability bias class action against SSA

09/24/2010

An EEOC administrative law judge in Philadelphia has agreed to allow a group of disabled workers to bring a class-action discrimination lawsuit against their employer, the Social Security Administration. The suit alleges the SSA has created a glass ceiling for employees with certain targeted disabilities.

Duquesne Law revisits the lawsuit that wouldn’t die

09/24/2010
Some employee lawsuits just won’t go away. Duquesne Law School in Pittsburgh is still embroiled in litigation it thought had ended three years ago—because a savvy employee has added new claims to an old sex discrimination and sexual harassment lawsuit.

Failure to interview for promotion can be retaliation

09/24/2010
Employees who complain about alleged discrimination and experience retaliation can sue even if it turns out they don’t have a valid discrimination case. And almost anything that would dissuade someone from complaining in the first place is retaliation.

Watch out when firing for breaking unwritten rule

09/24/2010
Before you approve a termination based on an employee’s apparent violation of an unwritten rule, decide whether the reason can stand up to scrutiny.

OK to pay commissions on a flat-rate basis–it won’t violate FLSA commission exemption

09/24/2010

For years, the DOL has argued that commissions must be based on a percentage of sales in order to be valid. But now the 3rd Circuit has approved a different form of commissioned sales—one in which employees are paid based not on the total amount of the sale, but on other factors such as whether the sale was made on an outgoing sales call or an incoming one.