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Florida

Gainesville votes to keep gay discrimination ban

04/14/2009

Gainesville’s broad anti-discrimination ordinance survived a referendum that would have stripped all protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender residents. Over 58% of those voting elected to keep the existing ordinance.

Family Dollar owes big bucks to misclassified managers

04/14/2009

Family Dollar Stores recently got a lesson in the nuances of overtime labor law. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the $35.6 million settlement of an FLSA class action suit brought by store managers at the discount chain.

Slumping auto market puts salespeople out of commission

04/14/2009

Commissioned salespeople are hurting in this economy, but their employers may be feeling the pinch, too. Take, for example, Rick Case Enterprise, a company that owns several Broward County auto dealerships.

Conducting background checks that comply with the FCRA

04/14/2009

Employers that hire outside firms or investigators to conduct employee investigations and background checks must make sure those vendors strictly comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Failing to do so can result in substantial legal risks, including damages, penalties, fines, punitive damages and attorneys’ fees awards.

Can we ban nurses from wearing protest buttons—without violating the NLRA?

04/14/2009

Q. Some of the nurses at our hospital have started wearing union buttons that state, “Nurses Demand Safe Staffing.” If the hospital administrators ban the buttons, will the hospital have committed an unfair labor practice?

What happens if workers’ comp carrier doesn’t respond to referral request?

04/14/2009

Q. The authorized treating physician of an employee who suffered a job-related injury referred the employee to a pain management specialist. Now our employee tells us that our workers’ compensation carrier has not responded to the referral request. The carrier evidently believes that this referral is not reasonably and medically necessary. Can it deny the referral request for that reason?

What is the employee’s responsibility to notify us she needs FMLA leave?

04/14/2009

Q. We received a note from an employee’s physician simply stating that she was ill. On one occasion, she had to go to the emergency room from work, and she subsequently called in sick one day about a month or two later. Is this sufficient notice under the FMLA to require us to regard this as a request for extended FMLA leave?

Juggling vacation, military and family leave under new FMLA regs

04/02/2009

The FMLA now requires employers to give employees serving in the military (or who are next of kin to service members) up to 26 weeks of unpaid leave under specific conditions. While few employers begrudge military families such leave, unforeseen leave can pose scheduling problems as employers come into the summer vacation season.

Make pre-firing investigation truly independent

03/09/2009

You might have rogue managers in your midst without even knowing it. If one of your supervisors has it in for a subordinate for discriminatory reasons, and you rely on his recommendation to terminate an employee, you may be in trouble.

You can rely on ‘negative’ FMLA certification

03/09/2009

Sometimes, employees think they’re sick enough to qualify for FMLA leave, but their doctors don’t. Other times, medical staff filling out the medical forms makes mistakes. Either way, if you get a certification or doctor’s note explaining that the employee can work, you are under no obligation to get more information. Instead, you can rely on that “negative” FMLA certification and deny leave.