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New York

Boss who hired also fired? Back it up anyway to defend against discrimination claims

05/06/2009

Employers are often advised to have the same managers who hired an employee also make the termination decision. The idea is that doing so may scuttle a discrimination lawsuit because it’s illogical for a manager to hire a member of a protected class and then turn around and fire him because of bias against that protected class. Don’t use it as an excuse to get sloppy with record-keeping and documentation.

Don’t worry about retaliation charge if all you did was ask worker to fill in

05/06/2009

It should come as no surprise that employees look for subtle as well as blatant retaliation. In one recent case, the employee thought that being asked to fill in (without being paid extra) for another employee who was on maternity leave was retaliation for her own discrimination complaint.

Be sure to document every employee problem

05/06/2009

You never know which employee will sue you, or when. Take, for example, promotion opportunities. Employees who aren’t picked may think the reason was discrimination. Then they sue. How will you support your promotion decisions?

Unable to work, ineligible for FMLA? You may be able to fire

05/06/2009

Employees who can’t come to work at all because of a disability can’t perform the essential functions of their jobs. Someone who is so incapacitated they cannot work can be discharged.

Employers: ‘Keep Out!’ Beware intruding in employee web sites

05/06/2009

It’s becoming a common problem: An employer discovers disparaging comments on an employee’s Facebook, MySpace or personal blog. Maybe a post reveals internal company information. Can the employer take disciplinary action? A series of new laws and evolving legal doctrines have placed limits on how far an employer can encroach on the private and off-site activities of its employees.

Minor adjustments: How to comply with federal teen labor rules

05/05/2009

Your risk of running afoul of the child labor laws has increased, and penalties can be harsh. A recent government study found a surprisingly high percentage of teen employees working longer hours than federal law allows, and also in jobs deemed too dangerous by law. Now, federal and state safety investigators are more interested than ever in child labor compliance.

Building supplier settles bias case for $495,000

05/05/2009

White Plains-based Marjam Supply, a building supply company, has agreed to pay $495,000 to settle the complaints of five black employees. The five filed charges with the EEOC, charging the supervisors repeatedly used racial slurs, talked about joining the Ku Klux Klan and threatened to burn crosses on the workers’ lawns.

Assessing witness credibility in workplace investigations

04/14/2009

During a workplace investigation, you, as an HR investigator, can take a number of practical steps to improve the reliability and objectivity of your witness credibility assessments. Four factors are critical to assessing witness credibility: demeanor, consistency, chronology, and past history and motivations.

‘Sensitive’ worker? Don’t sweat small stuff

04/02/2009

Workplace survival can require a thick skin. Some employees are just too sensitive to what co-workers say, assuming that every overheard comment is directed at them or meant to offend them in some way. The fact of the matter is that even a few incidents that border on harassment or religious intolerance aren’t enough to trigger a successful lawsuit.

On race, the customer isn’t always right

04/02/2009

When it comes to whom you employ, pay no attention to your customers’ preferences if they lead you to make illegal decisions. Simply put, employers can’t consider what race or ethnicity their customers or clients would prefer when making hiring decisions. That would be discrimination.