Compelling a prisoner to work without pay is not illegal, a federal court has ruled in considering a Texas inmate’s request. The prisoner worked in the prison laundry and claimed he should be paid at least the federal minimum wage …
The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) protects the rights of soldiers and reservists who are called to active duty or training and want to return to their jobs once their service is over. But these rights aren’t without limits …
If you award first choice of promotions, shifts, vacation slots and other perks based on employees’ seniority, you’ll face a dilemma if a disabled employee requests an ADA accommodation that conflicts with that policy …
When an employee calls in sick with an apparently serious ailment, you can place that employee on FMLA leave, even if he or she never asks. f you reasonably believe she has a serious health condition, you can start the 12-week FMLA-leave clock ticking …
Don’t assume that medical employees with advanced training and licenses meet the FLSA’s "learned profession" exemption, which allows employers to pay lawyers and doctors by the hour and still not pay them …
Don’t assume that you can handle sexual harassment issues after they arrive on your desk as a complaint. The trend these days seems to be "quit and sue," rather than giving employers a chance to fix the problem. And, in many cases, employees are finding success in such tactics …
Make sure your hiring managers understand that basing hiring decisions on the prejudices of your customer base is a sure way to land in court. Applicants’ race, age, sex or religion should always be irrelevant. Courts won’t be swayed by claims that customer preferences forced your hiring hand …
