01/11/2010
I practice management-side employment law because I want to help businesses better manage their talent. I am not so naive to think that employers fire people only for good reasons. Companies fire employees for lots of reasons—good, indifferent and unlawful. Every lawsuit, administrative charge and internal complaint is an opportunity for a company to learn from a mistake … It becomes an opportunity to train employers how to handle an employee-relations problem better the next time.
01/11/2010
Before you decide to fire a troublesome employee for missing work because the absences aren’t covered by the FMLA, double-check your math. In one recent case, the employer fired a “poor-performing” employee but cited a dubious reason: She was frequently absent to care for her father and wasn’t yet eligible for FMLA leave. In fact, it turned out she was eligible and the court wouldn’t buy any of the other discharge reasons.