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Louisiana

DOT safety certification trumps ADA protection

08/11/2016

Some jobs require special government physical certifications as a pre-requisite to employment. These are generally designed to make sure the employee can safely perform a job that might otherwise put the public, or the employee, at risk of harm. What happens if such an employee becomes disabled?

Government employees don’t check their Constitutional rights at the workplace door

07/15/2016
Public employees don’t lose their First Amendment free speech rights when they take a government job. Their employer can’t punish them for speaking out on matters of public importance.

Document performance problems even if they are not serious enough to warrant discipline

07/13/2016

Sometimes, an employee’s performance problems may not seem serious enough to warrant a formal performance improvement plan. However, you should be sure to document the problems anyway. Those records will be useful if you later have to terminate someone for economic reasons.

Do the right thing, still get sued

01/04/2016
Here’s a reminder that even doing the right thing can mean a lawsuit.

Contradictory reasons for firing can backfire

01/04/2016
Before you decide to terminate em­­ployees for budgetary reasons, make sure you are prepared to justify that rationale. Otherwise—and especially if you provide other reasons later—your motivation may look suspect if the employee sues.

Resignation announced, then a change of heart: Can refusing to allow return be retaliation?

01/04/2016
Here’s a rather novel question being answered for the first time in the 5th Circuit, which has jurisdiction over Texas employers. Can the refusal to accept a request to rescind a resignation ever be an adverse em­­ployment action and retaliation for engaging in protected activity?

Case in point: How to handle tip-pooling arrangements in Texas

12/07/2015

You may have heard that the Department of Labor has been focusing some of its enforcement efforts on low-wage service industries, particularly restaurants and fast- food outlets. That’s true. But federal courts are also stepping in to ensure that low-wage employees get every penny they are entitled to. That’s what recently happened when the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a tip-pooling case that the employee who makes coffee in the back (the barista) should not be participating in the restaurant’s tip pool.

One year difference in age does not equal discrimination

12/07/2015
A recent case found that a mere one-year age difference wasn’t generally enough to show age discrimination.

Use crystal clear language in contracts when defining commissions, bonuses

12/07/2015

Do you pay some employees a bonus based on sales or hitting other quotas or targets? Make sure the agreement promising such bonuses is clear and unambiguous. Unclear language can result in you being tied up in years of litigation.

Slightly lower evaluation rating isn’t retaliation

10/05/2015
To constitute retaliation for engaging in protected activity, an employer has to do something that would dissuade a reasonable employee from complaining in the first place. A poor evaluation, by itself, isn’t enough.