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Minnesota

What should we do? Employee is missing work because of what we suspect is domestic abuse

10/14/2014
Q. We have a female employee who is having personal problems and keeps missing work. She sometimes comes to work with visible bruises, and we suspect her spouse is abusive. While we’re sympathetic, we also have important work that isn’t getting done and the employee’s last-minute absences are a problem. We’ve told her how important attendance is, but the problem isn’t going away. Can we fire her?

How should we handle worker’s upcoming transgender transformation?

10/14/2014
Q. We have a male employee in our accounting department. He recently told us that he plans to start presenting himself as female and is thinking of undergoing surgery to transform to a female. We think we will have employees who are really uncomfortable with this situation, so we are wondering if we can terminate our accounting employee or if this might get us into trouble?

Succession planning in an era of delayed retirement

10/14/2014
Companies are facing an aging population, prolonged careers and heightened discrimination risks. How do you create effective succession plans given these factors?

EEOC says medical inquiry violated ADA, GINA

10/14/2014
Shoreview, Minn.-based Cummins Power Generation faces a suit from the EEOC after it fired an employee who had missed work for refusing to provide medical information in conjunction with a fitness-for-duty examination. According to the suit, the company sought medical information that wasn’t related to the reason for the employee’s absence.

DSW agrees to pay $900,000 to settle age bias complaints

10/14/2014
Ohio-based shoe retailer DSW has agreed to pay $900,000 to seven former managers who were let go during the recession. The settlement covers DSW activities at its home office and throughout its Midwest region, which includes Minnesota.

Enhanced pay report proposed for fed contractors

10/14/2014
The U.S. Department of Labor has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would require the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to collect pay data from federal contractors.

Izza Bending Tube & Wire settles retaliation suit

10/14/2014
Buffalo, Minn.-based Izza Bending Tube & Wire has settled a retaliation suit filed by the EEOC. The suit alleged an employee had her salary cut, was demoted, laid off and ultimately terminated after she refused to discriminate against a black employee.

Court runs out of patience with tightwad insurer

10/14/2014
Courts don’t like it when insurers try to use technicalities to limit benefits.

EEOC can bring case without alleged victim

10/14/2014
When the EEOC gets wind of alleged discrimination, it is free to investigate that practice and sue the employer—all without naming an actual victim.

A few unpaid ‘donning and doffing’ minutes can add up to penalties worth millions

10/14/2014

With few exceptions, hourly employees are entitled to pay for all time worked. Paid time can include the time it takes to put on specialized equipment and clothing and walk to a workstation. If you rely on an inaccurate formula to calculate that time, a jury may correct your mistake for all similarly situated employees—and a judge may double the amount owed for unpaid time.