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New York

He may have been a con artist, but you can’t say he was lazy

08/08/2011
Here’s an unexpected case in an age when so many people are either unemployed or underemployed: The government is prosecuting someone for holding down two full-time jobs—while on leave from a third job.

Knowingly hired older worker? Don’t fear age bias lawsuit

08/08/2011
Employers that willingly hire older employees and later discharge them are unlikely to lose if they later face an age discrimination suit.

Use plain English in your severance agreements

08/08/2011

Employers can offer severance payments to older workers they plan to terminate in exchange for a release of age discrimination claims. But the severance agreement must comply with the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act in order to stick. To comply with OWBPA, the agreement must be written clearly and simply enough that the employee can understand what he is signing.

It doesn’t matter who started it! Managers must always behave appropriately

08/08/2011

Some employers have strict rules that prohibit supervisors from getting involved in subordinates’ personal problems—or treating them badly. That’s fine. Employers are free to set their own supervisory standards, and a subor­dinate’s behavior doesn’t excuse a supervisor’s out-of-bounds reaction.

Patience–and focus on job performance–are key when dealing with difficult employee

08/08/2011

It’s often quite obvious when an em­­ployee is having personal problems that she needs to resolve. But employers have to treat such an employee carefully to avoid a possible ADA regarded-as-disabled lawsuit. The key is patience and focusing on workplace performance issues rather than any suspected disability.

Health system consultants gain class-action status in FLSA suit

08/08/2011
A New York court has granted class-­action status to a lawsuit filed by ben­efits consultants at a subsidiary of the WellCare health system, who allege they were misclassified as exempt.

Inadvertent segregation? Be able to explain why

08/08/2011
Here’s a caution about workplace logistics such as office assignments, work schedules and other supervisor actions that members of a particular protected class could view as hostile: If the result is any kind of workforce “segregation,” make sure you have a good underlying business reason that has nothing to do with race, sex, etc.

Ban class actions in arbitration agreements

08/08/2011

If your arbitration agreement is more than a year old, chances are it needs updating. That’s especially true if the contract doesn’t specifically ban class-action arbitrations. As a recent 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals decision shows, leaving out that prohibition could prompt an arbi­trator to treat one employee’s complaint as a class action covering many employees.

Worker lost $700: Can we make him pay it back?

08/02/2011
When an employee loses company property or money, what recourse do employers have to recoup their loss? It depends on the applicable state wage law … and on whether you believe the “loss” was really accidental.

When accused harasser says he was harassed, weigh everyone’s credibility–and motive for lying

07/15/2011

It can and does happen when an employee complains that she has been sexually harassed: In the course of the ensuing internal investigation, the alleged harasser says that, in fact, he was harassed—and the alleged victim was the real harasser. What should you do?