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New York

Offer FMLA, but still enforce attendance rules

04/06/2011

Employees occasionally have to step in on short notice to help care for a family member and may legitimately need FMLA leave to handle those responsibilities. Go ahead and suggest FMLA time off. However, until the employee takes you up on the offer, you can hold her to your regular attendance policy.

Quick action cuts sexual harassment liability

04/06/2011
You can’t prevent every vulgar act an employee may commit. But you can and should act fast when you learn about misbehavior. Doing so can keep a minor problem from growing into a major one.

Supreme Court: Check boss bias before disciplining

03/08/2011
The Supreme Court’s latest unanimous employment-law opinion found that two biased supervisors conspired to get HR to fire someone. The lesson is clear: HR must independently check supervisors’ disciplinary recommendations to ensure they have no ulterior motives.

New wage order means pay changes for hospitality employers

03/04/2011
New York employers in the hotel and restaurant industry have a new pay rule to work with, changing how tip income is handled and tweaking other details that affect how much pay workers take home.

Make sure employee handbook supports compliance with leave laws

03/04/2011
Employers are generally free to develop their own internal policies, but many laws require employers to notify employees of those policies. Consider the case of Jones v. City of Atlantic City in which an FMLA dispute revealed that Atlantic City hadn’t updated its handbook in 13 years. In fact, the last update happened two months before the FMLA was signed into law.

Benefits 101: Understanding fundamental ERISA compliance

03/04/2011
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 sets minimum standards for retirement and health benefit plans in private industry. ERISA does not require any employer to establish a plan. It only requires those that do to meet certain standards. Complying with ERISA can be difficult because it is a complex law. There are three components to compliance:

Don’t grant unlimited leave as ADA accommodation

03/04/2011

Employees who use up their FMLA leave may still be entitled to more time off when that leave expires. Some additional time off can be a legitimate reasonable accommodation under the ADA. But if the employee still can’t return after additional leave, it may be time to discuss termination.

Applicant suing for failure-to-hire? Make sure she really did apply for the job

03/04/2011

Score one for common sense: People who want a job they see posted have to apply before they can sue for not getting it. A phone call to HR that was never returned can’t be grounds for a failure-to-hire lawsuit.

Opposing unemployment comp isn’t retaliation

03/04/2011
A federal court has dismissed a case that could have created big headaches for any employer trying to prevent a discharged employee from receiving unemployment compensation benefits.

Make sure managers understand: They may be personally liable for racial slurs

03/04/2011
Here’s some food for thought you may want to pass along to supervisors, managers and your colleagues in HR who deal directly with employees. If they are actively involved in any activity that creates a hostile work environment, they may find themselves personally liable as an aider and abettor.