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Florida

Miami Herald outsources advertising production to India

02/01/2008

The Miami Herald, published by California-based McClatchy Co., has outsourced some production work in its special advertising sections to India …

Florida a national leader in pension funding

02/01/2008

Florida is a national leader in saving up for its public-employee pension bill, according to a recent study by the Pew Center on the States. Even so, the state faces a $3.6 billion pension-funding shortfall. Most states are in worse shape …

Now is the time to develop a comprehensive whistle-Blower policy

02/01/2008

Although Florida’s state whistle-blower law applies only to state government and state contractors, don’t believe you are above the law just because you are a private employer. Rather than ignore a complaint—and risk expensive litigation—you need to establish policies to investigate whistle-blower complaints …

Specify some offenses as dischargeable, and follow through

02/01/2008

Employers have a legal obligation to provide a safe working environment, and that includes taking reasonable measures to ensure that violence stays outside the workplace gate. Your employee handbook should include “no violence” and “no threats” clauses, explaining that verified violence or threats mean immediate dismissal …

Stable employment history is a legitimate hiring criterion

02/01/2008

You can use stable employment history as a legitimate selection criterion in hiring—if you do it right. The key is to allow employees to explain interruptions in their employment histories, ignoring those that could lead to a discrimination lawsuit …

Different grooming rules for different employees are legal

01/01/2008

Tattoos, body piercings, wildly colored hair—these days it seems as if just about anything goes in the workplace. Employers that want some sense of decorum at work may feel as though insisting on a dress code marks them as dinosaurs. Rest assured, however, that you can insist on a reasonable dress and grooming code …

Employers—Not employees—Choose ADA accommodation

01/01/2008

Sometimes disabled employees and their employers have different views of the accommodations needed to do their jobs. Fortunately, it’s up to the employer, not the employee, to pick the accommodation. Simply put, the employee isn’t the master of the accommodation—the employer is …

Following baseless complaint, ensure later discipline is legit

01/01/2008

Sometimes employees who know they are in trouble at work will try to set up lawsuits. That way, they reason, if they get fired, they can sue for “retaliation.” It’s up to HR to ferret out such sneaky tricks and prevent those lawsuits. The best way is to make absolutely sure that you can justify any eventual discipline …

Condition worthy of FMLA leave might not be ADA disability

01/01/2008

The FMLA and the ADA may seem as though they overlap, but that’s not always the case. A disability under the ADA is almost always a serious health condition under the FMLA, but not every serious health condition is an ADA disability. Here’s why …

Don’t just rubber-Stamp manager’s termination recommendation

01/01/2008

When a supervisor recommends discharging an employee, resist the temptation to simply agree with her assessment. Here’s why: If the employee is being targeted because she took FMLA leave or engaged in some other form of protected activity, blind adherence to the supervisor’s recommendation to fire opens up the company to a retaliation claim.