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Indiana

Union membership in Indiana projected to fall below 10%

10/01/2007

Union membership nationwide has been on a steady slide for the past 40 years and Indiana is no exception. A new Indiana Department of Labor report shows that only 12.5% of workers in Indiana are members of a labor union, down from more than 40% in the mid-1960s. The report predicts that the percentage will fall to 9.5% by 2010 …

Noncompete agreements in Indiana: When are they legal?

10/01/2007

Many Indiana employers wisely use noncompete agreements to protect their legitimate business interests in their customer base and trade secrets. But will those agreements stand up in court? While some employers have successfully used noncompetes, others don’t believe they’re worth the paper they’re printed on. Depending on how the noncompete is drafted, either can be true …

How to put a stop to FMLA leave abuse

10/01/2007

Q. I suspect one of the employees in our office is abusing his FMLA leave because he always seems to call off work at the end of the week or around holidays. What options are available to us to deny his suspicious leave requests? —E.L. …

Don’t dock last paycheck for ‘Stolen’ laptop

10/01/2007

Q. Our company recently terminated an employee for violating company policy. At the time of his termination, he had a company laptop, which he refuses to return. Can we withhold his final paycheck pending the return of the company equipment? Or, can we deduct the value of the equipment from his final paycheck? —S.F. …

Is return to work after workers’ comp guaranteed?

10/01/2007

Q. An employee has been out for the past few months on workers’ comp. During his recovery, we placed someone else in his position. His replacement has performed better than the injured employee, and we want to keep the replacement. Do we have to return the original employee to his job following his return from workers’ comp leave? —R.P. …

When disciplining employees, pick one reason and stick with it

10/01/2007

Nothing raises suspicion among judges and juries more than inconsistent explanations. For example, shifting reasons for firing someone can backfire. You’re courting trouble if the employee filed a discrimination claim with your HR office or the EEOC or sued your organization before being fired. The key to a clean discharge—especially when the employee has filed discrimination charges—is picking a legitimate reason for firing the employee and sticking with it …

No right to full pay for light-Duty work

10/01/2007

Some employees qualify for FMLA leave because they have a temporary medical problem that prevents them from performing their usual job. Often, they’ll elect to accept a light-duty position instead of taking 12 weeks’ unpaid leave.
Light-duty jobs often come with a lower paycheck, presumably because so many of those positions are really “make-work” jobs typically used to accommodate on-the-job injuries. What happens if the employee elects light duty and demands his or her regular pay? Does he or she have that right under the FMLA? Not according to the 7th Circuit …

Tell managers: No paternalistic protection allowed

10/01/2007

Check patronizing attitudes—and comments—at the workplace door. Protective attitudes have no place at work and even a comment or two may spur on a sex-discrimination lawsuit. That’s why HR must tell managers and supervisors: Lay off the “I know what’s good for the delicate sex” comments. They are direct evidence of sex discrimination and a sure way to court …

Track discipline by type and protected characteristics

10/01/2007

Do you have ready access to your organization’s discipline records? Can you say with certainty that everyone charged with the same misconduct receives the same punishment? Or is there bias hiding in those records? The best way to check is to group discipline by type of misconduct and punishment and then compare employees’ sex, race, age and other protected characteristics against punishment for the same conduct …

Origin not the sole factor in national-Origin discrimination

10/01/2007

You know it’s illegal to discriminate against someone based on his or her national origin. You may not know that it’s also illegal to discriminate against someone who simply has characteristics that reflect a particular heritage, whether or not he or she claims a particular heritage …