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Illinois

Termination for viewing child porn

10/08/2008

Q. Our company has a strict Internet-use policy. During the course of routine computer maintenance and observation, our third-party IT provider advised us that one of our employees had been viewing child pornography in violation of our policy. We immediately terminated that employee. Is there anything else we should do regarding this employee’s violation of our company’s policy? …

Holiday parties: Don’t let best of times become worst of times

10/07/2008

By exerting proper control over your holiday party this year, you can reduce everyone’s worries concerning the annual fete. Most important, careful planning will help your company avoid lawsuits as you ring in the New Year.

Count minutes—not just hours—when figuring FMLA eligibility

09/23/2008

The FMLA limits leave eligibility to those employees who have worked at least 1,250 hours in the previous 12 months. Employers are perfectly within their rights to stick scrupulously to that 1,250-hour benchmark. They don’t have to round the hours up if the employee comes up short …

Document poor work to make sure firing sticks

09/15/2008
Jerilyn Lucas, a bank branch manager, seemed to be in over her head. She struggled with basic operational matters. Her staff began complaining that she frequently missed work. Lucas’ supervisors repeatedly warned her about her performance. When the bank eventually fired her , she sued …

Fire employees who take FMLA leave? Yes, with reason

09/10/2008
Employees sometimes think taking FMLA leave gives them special protection. Some may even attempt to go out on leave when they know they are about to get into trouble at work. Don’t fall into that trap. The fact is, if you would have fired the employee even if she had never taken FMLA leave, you can do so if she has taken leave …

Employ commercial drivers? They have special protection

09/10/2008
Commercial drivers are protected from retaliation if they refuse to operate their vehicles in violation of U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) safety rules that restrict the number of hours they may drive without resting. Firing or demoting someone for refusing to break those rules may be retaliation …

Carefully craft bona fide occupational qualification limits

09/10/2008
Some jobs can be handled only by someone of a particular gender. For example, a dress model necessarily has to be female. Under the sex discrimination provisions of Title VII, employers may limit those jobs to members of one sex and refuse to hire members of the opposite sex under the so-called bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ) exception. But the BFOQ is strictly limited …

Use seniority to assign tasks and take bias off the table

09/10/2008
Employees who sue for race and many other forms of discrimination must prove they were treated differently than a similarly situated co-worker who doesn’t belong to the same protected class. But when employers adopt and follow a seniority system to assign tasks, employees who try to claim discrimination have a tough time finding someone similarly situated to compare …

Don’t make handbook promises you’re not prepared to keep

09/10/2008
Drafting employee handbook language can be tricky. You don’t want the whole handbook to become a binding contract, but you do want employees to understand they have to follow the rules. But you may want some sections of the handbook to be binding—such as an agreement to arbitrate any employment disputes. So what’s the best approach? …

Title VII doesn’t protect employees who complain about discrimination against customers

09/10/2008
Employees who complain about co-worker or management discrimination against employees are protected from retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. But what about employees who complain to management that their co-workers may be discriminating against customers? Are they protected from retaliation, too? Not in Illinois …