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Minnesota

Should we be paying for the trip from our home office to the work site?

06/16/2014
Q. One of our work crews needs to drive to a single work site during the day. One employee drives a truck and trailer with tools and equipment from our main facility. We would like to allow other employees to save gas by riding in the company’s truck. Do we need to pay employees for this commute time?

EEOC issues new employer guidance on religious dress and grooming

06/16/2014
As the workforce becomes more diverse, religious accommodation requests are becoming more common. In addressing such requests, employers should be mindful of the new in­­for­­mal guidance recently issued by the EEOC regarding religious accommodations involving dress or grooming.

Hibachi Buffet carves out settlement in wage suit

06/16/2014
A U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation has found that the Hibachi Buffet restaurant in Minneapolis owes 18 employees a total of $117,000 in unpaid wages.

Unintentional misconduct doesn’t block unemployment

06/16/2014
Employees who are fired for misconduct aren’t eligible for unemployment benefits. But an unintentional mistake doesn’t block benefits.

‘Just cause’ clause may stop firing after ‘last chance’

06/16/2014
If your union contract has a “just cause” for termination clause, get the union’s sign-off on a covered employee’s last chance agreement.

Ensure past FMLA leave doesn’t affect decision to rehire rebound applicant

06/16/2014
Here’s a warning to pass on to everyone involved in the hiring process: If the most qualified applicant for an open position happens to be a former employee who used FMLA leave in the past, you can’t use that leave as an excuse not to rehire him. That’s retaliation under the FMLA.

Prepare to show you were fair if disabled workers take a hit during RIF

06/16/2014
Sometimes, poor appearances lead to lawsuits. That can certainly be the case when a reduction in force (RIF) seems to disproportionately affect a protected class of workers.

When accommodating pregnant employee, make sure measures truly relate to pregnancy

06/16/2014

Under the ADA and state discrimination law, pregnant women may be entitled to accommodations at work. For example, if a pregnancy involves medical complications, an employee may be entitled to a reduced schedule, shift changes or temporary assignments to accommodate lifting restrictions. However, requests for changes that are only tangentially related to a pregnancy don’t have to be honored.

Feds cut off future work for North Woods, Minn. contractor

06/16/2014
Garcia Forest Service finds itself barred from doing any more federal contract work after Uncle Sam found that it was cutting more than trees while performing forestry services in the Superior National Forest in northeastern Minnesota.

Good past performance doesn’t rule out firing

06/16/2014

Sometimes, employees can only imagine that discrimination or retaliation is to blame for their sudden unemployment. If you had a good reason to terminate such an employee, don’t worry. The circumstances immediately preceding the discharge decision are what matter.