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Press ‘send’ for liability: The legal risk of misdirected e-mail

07/24/2009

Have you ever felt that punch-to-the-stomach feeling of clicking “Send” and realizing you blasted an e-mail to the wrong person? As the CEO in the following case learned, one misguided e-mail mixed with some poor judgment can stir up a potent legal stew …

Engineers, nurses top 2009 ‘Hardest jobs to fill’ list

07/24/2009

Even with unemployment hovering near 10%, some employers are still having trouble finding employees with the right skills, experience and training. Here are the 10 hardest jobs to fill in 2009:

Circle that date! EEOC filings have 300-day deadline

07/24/2009

Remember: Pennsylvania employees have just 300 days to file an EEOC complaint.

Construction firm sued after pulling diabetic’s job offer

07/24/2009

The EEOC has sued construction giant Glenn O. Hawbaker Inc. for refusing to hire an apparently well-qualified backhoe operator after the company learned the man has diabetes.

New Hanover hospital sued for disability discrimination

07/24/2009

The EEOC has sued the New Hanover Regional Medical Center over its policy of refusing to hire people who take legally prescribed narcotics. The lawsuit alleges the policy violates the ADA because the center is regarding all employees taking prescription narcotics as disabled when they are not.

Turn to legal or immigration experts when facing wage-and-hour complexities

07/24/2009

If you employ seasonal labor, import employees from other countries and make payroll deductions for their equipment and transportation, you may want to hire an expert in visas and seasonal labor. That’s what saved one employer from double damages and an extra year of liability.

N.C. court stops pay raises for migrant workers nationwide

07/24/2009

Minimum wages for immigrant farm workers won’t go up following a North Carolina federal judge’s decision to halt a federal government plan to overturn an H-2A visa regime it had implemented just last year. The injunction means farmers nationwide can continue to pay H-2A visa holders between $7.25 and $8.51 per hour.

Are we liable for wages we didn’t pay while employee was waiting for drug test results?

07/24/2009

Q. We suspected an employee was using drugs, so we sent him to be tested. We told him he couldn’t work until the test came back in two days. The results were negative. Do we owe him wages for those two days?

Suit challenges Caltrans’ new contracting quotas

07/17/2009

The Pacific Legal Foundation recently filed a lawsuit alleging that Caltrans’ new contract quota program for minority-owned firms is unconstitutional. The suit, filed on behalf of the San Diego chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America, argues that Caltrans did not do enough to show that discrimination was a problem before it implemented the program.

Can you ask applicants if they have relatives on staff?

07/17/2009

Q. On our applications, can we include a question that asks if applicants are related to any current employees?