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

Pennsylvania

When woman returns from maternity leave, must she return to her exact former job?

07/27/2012
Q. When an employee returns from maternity leave, do we have to give her the very same job she had or can she be put to work in a different type of position?

What makes a full-time employee?

07/27/2012
Q. How many hours must employees work to be considered full time? Part time?

Employees switch shifts: Does that potentially increase our overtime liability?

07/27/2012

Q. Are employers required to pay for overtime hours that result when an employee voluntarily switches shifts with a co-worker?

Is it legal to raise sales quotas and then fire reps who don’t meet them?

07/27/2012

Q. As a large retail business, we employ several demo reps who present products to shoppers in the hope they’ll buy them. Recently, we’ve had to put increasing pressure on our demo reps to increase sales up to 200%. If a demo rep doesn’t meet the new goal, can we terminate him or her? Do they have legal recourse should they be fired?

How should we craft a policy allowing us to refuse to consider unsolicited résumés?

07/27/2012
Q. Our company doesn’t want to consider applicants who send in unsolicited résumés. We are trying to come up with a legally sound definition for “applicant” so we can write an official policy. Any suggestions?

The ‘perceived as’ theory of discrimination in Pennsylvania

07/27/2012
An intriguing discrimination case in New Jersey raises complicated issues that Pennsylvania courts may one day have to address: discrimination claims based on perceived membership in a protected class.

School drops teacher’s contract after son comes out

07/27/2012
Sharon Wright, a former teacher at Covenant Christian Academy in Harrisburg is suing the private school, claiming officials there made her life intolerable after her son revealed he is gay on a social media website.

Don’t tolerate argumentative and disruptive worker

07/27/2012

Some employees seem to have no problem picking fights and engaging in arguments with co-workers, customers and supervisors. You don’t have to put up with it. Generally, courts are hesitant to second-guess an employer’s decision to fire a disruptive worker un­­less there is a compelling reason.

EEOC won’t pay legal costs until case runs its course

07/27/2012
There’s no collecting attorneys’ fees from the EEOC in mid-litigation. A court said that it must wait until a case ends.

Track your fair and equitable discipline to prove you don’t discriminate

07/27/2012
Even an employee who was terminated for good reasons can win a discrimination lawsuit if she can show that someone outside her protected class wasn’t fired for the same transgression. That’s why you must track all discipline.