• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly
Connection failed: SQLSTATE[HY000] [2002] No such file or directory

New York

Attorney General Cuomo calls double dipping ‘Inexcusable’

06/04/2008
State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has subpoenaed the records of all 124 school districts on Long Island in an investigation of “double dipping” by administrators who received state pensions and were rehired for lucrative interim positions …

Whether paper or electronic, make sure job applications are legal

06/04/2008
The days of the paper job application may be fading away, but whatever takes the place of paper applications better measure up the same way. Specifically, employers have to understand that online applications can hold more legal land mines than hard copy applications ever did …

Job background check must comply with Fair Credit Reporting Act

06/04/2008

The Fair Credit Reporting Act regulates how your company performs a job background check on applicants. Contrary to popular belief, this federal law doesn’t just cover credit checks. It covers any background report, such as driving records and criminal histories obtained from a “consumer reporting agency.”

Base reinstatement on job held at time leave began

05/07/2008
For determining reinstatement rights under the FMLA, it’s the job the employee was in at the time she began her FMLA leave that counts. As long as the job she returns to is substantially equivalent, it does not matter that the job may be below her capacities and educational background …

Beware: ‘Association discrimination’ is new HR worry

05/07/2008
You know it’s illegal to retaliate against an employee who has engaged in so-called “protected activity,” such as filing a discrimination complaint. Now the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals has taken the concept one step further …

Denying transfer—Even a lateral one—Can be discrimination

05/07/2008
Denying someone a transfer she wants may be an adverse employment action—and may trigger a discrimination or retaliation lawsuit. That’s true even if the transfer wouldn’t have meant more pay or other tangible benefits …

Don’t think ‘Contractor’ status shields you from retaliation

05/07/2008
Beware: When it comes to judging Title VII and retaliation claims, courts may treat as employees many of the individuals you consider independent contractors. That’s true even if they are licensed professionals—such as physicians—working at your facility …

Stay mum on lawsuits, complaints to cut retaliation risk

05/07/2008
Retaliation can turn a relative molehill of a discrimination complaint into a mountain of legal trouble. And the retaliation doesn’t have to take the form of something dramatic, such as a firing or demotion. Little things supervisors do can add up to retaliation. But supervisors can’t retaliate if they don’t know about earlier discrimination complaints or pending lawsuits …

ADA alert: Managers and supervisors can’t force workers to disclose illnesses

05/07/2008
In safety-conscious environments—such as in the medical and food industries—employees who become ill often face questions about their health from co-workers and associates. That’s only natural. But sometimes, inquiries about an employee’s illness are simply off-limits …

Lease doesn’t protect building owners from liability in case of accident

05/07/2008
Does your company own its facility but lease out part of the building or grounds to a third party? If so, remind management that the company may still be liable for injuries to a worker who is doing repairs or construction on the building without the owner’s knowledge …