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Minnesota

Disability isn’t ‘get out of jail free’ card–it must be revealed before discipline

08/24/2015

Some workers who learn they’re about to be disciplined or even fired for poor behavior may try to use an alleged disability as an excuse. But if they never revealed before that they have a disability, it’s too late to try that tactic on the eve of being punushed.

Anticipate lawsuit by offering second chance, fresh supervisor to struggling employee

08/24/2015
If a marginal employee is having a hard time getting along with his boss, think about giving him a second chance with a new supervisor. It may help—and it won’t hurt if you still end up firing the employee.

Do we have to hire the partying applicant?

08/19/2015
Q. We are hiring a new salesperson, and were about to offer the position to a seemingly well-qualified applicant. As part of our reference check, a social media search was also conducted. Several photos of the candidate passed out surrounded by empty booze bottles at what looks like a fraternity party and other photos of partying were found. We are considering not hiring this applicant because of the results of the social media search. Would that present any problem for us legally?

Must we permit transitional work following off-duty injuries?

08/19/2015
Q. An employee was injured away from work. He is now demanding to return to work as an accommodation for his injuries, which he claims is a disability under both the ADA and Minnesota Human Rights Act. We do have a transitional work program, whereby we create work to aid workers injured on the job in returning to work. The work involves duties that we otherwise outsource, such as floor sweeping, etc. Our injured employee is not able to return to his prior position due to the physical nature of that job, and is now demanding that we provide him this sort of transitional work. Must we?

Is employee in jail entitled to FMLA leave?

08/19/2015
Q. We have an employee who is on final warning due to his poor attendance. The employee recently requested FMLA leave to care for his wife. While on FMLA leave, it was reported in the newspaper that the employee was arrested for drug possession. He was in jail for several days, including several workdays. The employee is now out of jail and wants to return to work. Can we treat the employee’s absences from work while in jail as occurrences under our attendance policy, or do we have to treat the time as FMLA leave, even though the employee could not have been caring for his wife the days in question since he was in jail?

Personal data on business systems: The high cost of curiosity

08/19/2015
The intermingling of personal and business computing is creating traps for employers. What are you allowed to see, alter, delete … and take?

Federal court edits noncompete pact

08/19/2015
A federal court in Minnesota has invoked Texas law to rewrite a noncompete agreement that it decided was too broad.

NLRB says retailer’s ‘no pay talk’ rule violated NLRA

08/19/2015
The National Labor Relations Board has ruled against Love Culture, purveyor of teen clothing, after it fired an employee from its St. Louis Park, Minn. store for discussing pay.

EEOC alleges race bias at New Ulm factory

08/19/2015
Windings Inc., a maker of precision motor parts in New Ulm, faces charges it refused to hire a qualified applicant because he is biracial. The EEOC has filed suit against the company in federal court, claiming it violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act when it refused to hire the man.

Don’t tolerate ‘reverse harassment’ of supervisors

08/19/2015
Just as supervisors aren’t allowed to harass subordinates, subordinates aren’t allowed to harass bosses.