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

New York

Employee acting as own lawyer? Expect delays

06/14/2018
Unfortunately for employers, pro se litigation can take lots of time (and money) to defend. Judges are often willing to indulge employees who act as their own lawyers by providing detailed instructions on how to revise a complaint that would have been summarily dismissed had it come from an attorney.

Ensure employees know about intermittent leave

06/14/2018
Not every employee who needs FMLA leave has to take a continuous block of time off. They may need short amounts of leave to go to medical appointments, check in for brief hospital treatments or deal with flare-ups of their medical conditions. That’s what FMLA intermittent leave is for.

Even some common injuries can be disabilities

06/14/2018
Under the ADA, each worker’s disability must be considered on an individualized basis. Thus, a condition that might not slow down one person may have a more profound effect on another, warranting a reasonable accommodation.

Training on implicit bias has pluses—and pitfalls to avoid

05/09/2018
Bias plays a part in all discrimination, ranging from race relations to gender and disability stereotypes. Training on implicit or unconscious bias training—if poorly implemented—may backfire, leaving the workplace more divided than it was before.

State of New York has new rules to curb harassment

05/09/2018
The unveiling of New York’s 2019 budget made it clear that the state has maintained its focus on curbing sexual harassment in the workplace. The measures affect both private and public employers. Here are some of the highlights.

Long Island body shop settles to avert collision with DOL

05/09/2018
Farmingdale Auto Collision and its owners have agreed to settle charges the company violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by not paying overtime pay as required by the law.

Foreign subsidiary? Litigation may have to be overseas

05/09/2018
An employer with operations in another nation may be able to push any employment-related litigation away from the United States even if some decisions were made in the United States at, for example, corporate headquarters.

Ignorance may be bliss, but it’s a lousy legal strategy

05/09/2018
Ignoring a lawsuit won’t make it go away. In fact, it almost certainly means a default judgment in the employee’s favor. Be sure managers and executives understand they must take all legal paperwork seriously.

To sue for failure to promote, employee must have actually applied for promotion

05/09/2018
When an employee sues his employer, alleging he was denied a promotion because of some form of discrimination, he must at least show that he applied for the promotion. Merely telling his supervisors that he’s interested in possible promotion opportunities isn’t enough when the employer has a formal application process in place.

Absences due to FMLA can count against calculations for performance bonus

05/09/2018
Generally, time spent on FMLA leave can’t be counted against an employee when, for example, tallying absences under a no-fault attendance program. However, calculations to figure a production bonus don’t have to “forgive” work missed because of FMLA leave.