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Pennsylvania

Beware too much control over contractor! You could be liable for unemployment comp

02/22/2012

You may think that a long-term arrangement with an independent contractor to provide professional services will never be considered an employment relationship. But that’s not true if you exert too much control over the way the work is done. And according to a recent Commonwealth Court decision, it doesn’t take all that much control.

Employee acting as her own lawyer? Prepare for a long slog through the legal system

02/22/2012
Ten years of litigation has finally come to an end now that a federal appeals court has tossed the last claims of an employee who acted as her own lawyer.

More union members in 2011, thanks to private-sector gains

02/22/2012

Changing economic conditions and favorable rule-making in Washington helped U.S. union membership increase to 14.8 million workers last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Organized labor gained 49,000 new members in 2011.

Policies are key to handling workplace romance

02/14/2012
Romance may be in the air at your workplace this Valentine’s Day. A 2011 survey by CareerBuilder.com found that 40% of those polled said they have dated a co-worker. But while Cupid shoots arrows, workplace romances often blow up in a liability minefield.

Pay cut for poor work? Document carefully

02/03/2012
If an employee isn’t working as hard as you expect, reducing his pay might conceivably provide enough of a kick in the pants that he’ll pick up the pace. As long as you carefully document why you are making the pay cut, he won’t win a discrimination case even if his pay puts him at a lower level than others outside his protected class who perform the same job.

Use objective measures to make firing decisions

02/01/2012
If you terminate subpar workers, it goes without saying that you must be prepared to show they were, in fact, poor performers. Do so by using objective performance measures. Let the facts and figures speak for themselves.

He said, she said: What if they both did? Trust investigation to reveal harassment truth

02/01/2012
If your sexual harassment policy is comprehensive, any complaint may trigger an investigation that uncovers many violations—perhaps even by the complaining employee. When that happens, the best policy is to let the investigation take its course and document everything. Then discipline everyone who violated the policy.

OK to insist on initial retirement request

02/01/2012
When an employer doesn’t have a set policy on whether an employee can change his mind about retiring, refusing to rescind a retirement request isn’t enough to support a discrimination or retaliation lawsuit.

May we ask applicants about their religion?

01/25/2012
Q. When, if ever, can our company legally ask an applicant about his or her religious affiliation?

What should we do? The law and our union rules are on a collision course over harassment

01/25/2012
Q. Our union agreement says we must give 48 hours’ notice before dismissing a regular employee. But we have proof that two employees have been har­­assing—and continue to harass—black and gay em­­ployees. In fact, their har­ass­ment just caused us to lose a good em­­ployee who couldn’t take it any ­longer. What trumps what?