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Ohio

What are our legal options? It turns out, an employee who is suing us was a thief!

02/12/2009

Q. Our company is being sued by an employee for discrimination. During the lawsuit proceedings, we discovered that he had been stealing from us. Do we have any recourse?

Can we cut our legal risk by offering unconditional reinstatement?

02/12/2009

Q. If an employee is suing our company, what are the benefits of offering her job back while the litigation is ongoing?

Is it OK to pay hourly workers comp time instead of overtime?

02/12/2009

Q. Is it legal for my company to pay our hourly employees comp time instead of paying time-and-a-half for overtime worked?

How to turn the tables on lawsuit-happy employees

02/12/2009

There’s a silver lining to the rising number of employment lawsuits: Courts are losing patience with applicants, employees and former employees who file discrimination lawsuits that have no basis in reality. Recently, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals approved sanctions against such employees and their attorneys.

Employers cut ’09 salary budgets; raises fall below 3%

02/01/2009

Remember those surveys last summer forecasting steady 3.6% salary increases for 2009? Forget about it. U.S. workers, on average, are now projected to receive annual merit increases of between 2.3% and 3.0% …

Obama signs Ledbetter Act, easing path for pay-bias suits

01/29/2009

President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act on Jan. 29, making it easier for women and others to sue for pay discrimination that may date back decades. Drafted in response to a 2007 U.S. Supreme Court decision that said employees had at most 300 days to file pay discrimination complaints, the new law counts each unfairly low paycheck as a fresh discriminatory act.

The Obama years: 4 predictions for employment law circa 2012

01/21/2009

President Obama has put forth a significant employment and labor agenda. If he and the Democratic-controlled Congress succeed in passing proposed legislation, the next several years will see the creation of new protected classes, more family leave rights and the re-emergence of labor unions.

Remind employees: Honesty required when applying for health insurance benefits

01/09/2009

Remind employees that they must be honest when filling out health insurance sign-up forms. Otherwise, they—and your company—may be sued later to recover the medical costs associated with undisclosed pre-existing conditions.

Review contract language before changing benefits

01/09/2009

If your organization has a collective-bargaining agreement with a union, you must make sure you check with counsel before you make any changes to benefits. In some cases, promises made in past contracts—such as a promise to provide retiree health benefits—may be a binding, vested promise that cannot be undone.

Promote civility, but watch for discrimination

01/05/2009

How much effort should the HR office put into getting everyone to get along? The best approach is to let employees handle most social conflicts among themselves—as long as there are no overt signs of discrimination.