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Policies / Handbooks

You Can Restrict Use of Personal Days

10/01/2001

Q. If a company provides both personal and vacation days for its employees and does not define what a personal day is, can that be used for anything outside of vacation time? —E.H., Utah

Put ‘unwritten rules’ in writing

09/01/2001
Interstate Brands Corp. had an unwritten policy that required a doctor’s note to confirm all absences caused by a work-related injury. When Cynthia Bausman didn’t produce …

Risky environment won’t end your duty to reduce danger to staff

09/01/2001
All patients at Topeka State Hospital posed a danger to themselves or others. Staff members knew that, and the hospital regularly required workers to sign job description documents that mentioned the …

Investigate complaints, pronto

09/01/2001
The male workers at an Azteca restaurant constantly mocked Antonio Sanchez for his effeminate ways. They swore at him and referred to the waiter as “she” and “her.” Sanchez finally …

Uneven Comp-Time Policy Can Cause Trouble

09/01/2001

Q. Our company manual doesn’t address compensatory time off, but we have offered certain exempt managers an hour of comp time for every hour of overtime worked. Do we have to pay them for accrued comp time when we terminate them? In the past, we’ve paid comp time to some and not to others. Can we negotiate our own terms with each employee? —E.B., Oregon

Manager’s insubordination wins protection

08/01/2001
Jane Foster had a tough decision: Follow the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or follow her boss’s orders. She went with the ADA and got fired. But a court has ruled …

Poorly drafted policies grant unintended rights

08/01/2001
Dr. Tina Thomas, an optometrist with Pearle Vision Inc., requested maternity leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). After all, a summary of employee benefits said “all employees with …

Splitting hairs: When is a no-beard policy illegal?

08/01/2001
Two recent court cases help draw the boundaries on how far you can go with a razor. Federal Express recently settled a lawsuit involving its no-beard policy and a Muslim …

Simple hearsay about harassment doesn’t create hostile environment

08/01/2001
When Diane Leibovitz heard that two employees of the New York City Transit Authority had been harassed, she claimed that made her a victim of a hostile environment and filed …

Cost-sharing can cost you in arbitration agreements

08/01/2001
To get a job as an airport security agent, Damiana Perez had to agree to arbitrate all employment disputes. The agreement required her and the company to split the costs of …