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Ohio

Can we ask employee to use paid leave before receiving workers’ comp benefits

04/01/2008
Q. Can an employee who is receiving workers’ compensation wage continuation benefits be required to use sick, vacation and personal leave time to cover days missed due to the work-related injury? …

FMLA leave even if paperwork is lacking?

04/01/2008
Q. Can an employee be required to use FMLA leave if the required paperwork has not been completed by the employee or signed by the employee’s physician? …

You don’t have to make perfect decisions—Just honest ones

03/01/2008

When it comes to hiring or promotion decisions, courts will rarely meddle when companies make honest decisions—even if those decisions aren’t the best or most rational ones. Unless there’s some other underlying discriminatory reason, judges generally won’t second-guess even boneheaded decisions …

Time records crucial in FMLA eligibility calculation

03/01/2008

As a practical matter, the FMLA requires employers to carefully keep track of all hours each employee works. If the employer’s time records don’t include all time worked, it is up to the employer to prove to the court that the employee didn’t work enough hours to qualify for FMLA leave. With poor records, that may be hard to do …

Termination meeting should include open door, easy exit

03/01/2008

The setting for a termination meeting can be crucial in preventing an unexpected charge—false imprisonment. To avoid unfounded false imprisonment charges, make certain termination meetings are private, yet open. Allow the employee to sit by the door, with nothing blocking her exit …

Disability still your call, even if co-workers ‘Accommodate’

03/01/2008

Sometimes, supervisors are the last to know an employee wants an accommodation for a disability. Instead, the employee may be making her own accommodations by asking co-workers for help. Of course, the help may end up keeping them from doing their own jobs. What should you do when you find out? …

Union contract doesn’t mean automatic claims arbitration

03/01/2008

If your organization operates in a union environment, much of the discipline you impose will be controlled by a collective bargaining agreement. But that doesn’t always mean that you will be able to avoid court battles over discrimination claims …

Repeated outbursts bar unemployment comp

03/01/2008

Employers have a right to expect a certain level of decorum in the workplace. Employees fired for using crude language or engaging in threatening behavior won’t likely be able to collect unemployment compensation, since their own misdeeds caused them to become unemployed …

Go figure: Ohio Supreme Court says making money illegally bars workers’ comp

03/01/2008

It may seem like common sense, but now the Supreme Court of Ohio has issued a clear ruling: Employees who can’t work because of injuries or illnesses lose their workers’ compensation benefits if they regain the ability to make a living by breaking the law …

‘Just kidding. Can we come back now?’

03/01/2008

Three teenage students suspended for calling a teacher a pedophile on the social networking site Facebook.com have settled their lawsuits with the Three Rivers School District in Cincinnati …