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Florida

Post promotion openings to cut down on lawsuits

10/13/2009

Employers that rely on informal announcements and word of mouth to promote employees, take note: If a supervisor knows an employee would be interested in such a position and doesn’t let him know it is opening up, a court may allow a failure-to-promote lawsuit even if the employee never applied.

Even if managers go rogue, you can defend terminations by conducting independent review

10/13/2009

You can preach your zero-tolerance policy on discrimination and retaliation until you’re blue in the face—and sometimes it still makes no difference. Occasionally a supervisor will say or do something stupid that gets the company dragged into court. However, there are steps you can take to avoid liability.

Helping worker dodge jury duty with medical excuse doesn’t amount to disability

10/13/2009

Here’s a novel twist on the ADA violation of regarding someone as disabled. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that an employer doesn’t necessarily consider an employee disabled just because a manager uses a health-related excuse to help a worker get out of jury duty.

Regularly review exempt status to avoid FLSA ‘job creep’

10/13/2009

Employees who don’t fit into one of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s exemption categories are entitled to overtime pay. Their job titles don’t matter. What counts are actual job duties. Those duties, of course, change over time. That’s why it’s important to review exempt status regularly—ideally, every time you update a job description.

EEOC bites Cobra for supervisor sexual harassment

10/13/2009

Allegedly lewd and crude behavior by managers has led the EEOC to file a sexual harassment lawsuit on behalf of female employees of Delray Beach-based Cobra Construction and Cobra Pavers and Engineering.

Will lawsuit help Six L’s learn lesson on bias?

10/13/2009

The EEOC has filed national-origin and race discrimination charges against Immokalee-based packing company Six L’s. The complaint alleges Haitian employees endured a hostile work environment in which they were continually degraded by a largely Hispanic cadre of manages who considered Haitian workers “slaves.”

Before firing, make sure you treated others just the same

10/05/2009

Before you fire any employee, double-check to make sure others who performed just as poorly or made similar mistakes were also terminated. Doing so may prevent a lawsuit … or, if you are sued, at least provide evidence that you treat everyone alike.

New health coverage rules for dependent kids start Nov. 8

10/02/2009

A new federal law takes effect Nov. 8 that extends eligibility for group health insurance coverage to some dependent children age 18 or older who are higher-education students.

Offensive employee? Go ahead and fire him

09/14/2009

Isolated comments may not create a hostile work environment, but they can mushroom into a bigger problem. That’s especially true if you don’t discipline those who offend. What to do: Don’t wait until you have a full-blown hostile environment on your hands. You can terminate the offender before harm is done.

Track rationale for all salary increases

09/14/2009

Employees who discover their colleagues are making more money for doing the same work often conclude that there can be only one reason—discrimination. Next stop: the office of an attorney, who will try to confirm the pay bias by comparing the disgruntled employee’s protected class status to those earning more.