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Pennsylvania

Can we make direct deposit mandatory?

02/28/2011
Q. Can a business require employees to use direct deposit to receive their pay?

How should we go about changing severance pay policies spelled out in employment agreements?

02/28/2011
Q. Can we reduce the severance amounts cited in employment agreements we have with certain staff as long as we notify them of the change?

Romance gone bad: What can we do to discourage relationships between employees?

02/28/2011
Q. Two of our employees are having a romantic relationship. One is married. The wife of the married employee came to our facility and demanded to speak with the other woman. We didn’t permit them to speak on the premises. Can we do anything to discourage employee romances or is that strictly off-limits?

Ensure your FMLA practices comply with new GINA regulations

02/28/2011
Under the FMLA employers routinely ask an employee’s health care provider to complete a certification form justifying FMLA leave requests. That could create a GINA compliance problem, because the certification might reveal genetic information about the employee. There are obvious precautions that an employer should take to comply.

Amtrak faces equal pay suit

02/28/2011
The EEOC is suing Amtrak for pay discrimination and retaliation, following allegations by a female HR manager at Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station that the railroad underpaid her because she is a woman. She also claims Amtrak started excluding her from important meetings after she complained.

Feds sue western Pennsylvania mines over inspection tip-offs

02/28/2011

When federal mine safety inspectors arrived last year at two western Pennsylvania mines owned by Rosebud Mining Co., the first thing they did was shut down the company’s phone system so top-side managers couldn’t warn underground workers that an inspection was about to start. That didn’t stop someone from passing along the news.

Social Security disability may mean no ADA suit

02/28/2011
Can someone claim they’re so disabled they need Social Security benefits, yet still tell an employer they can perform a job’s essential functions? Sounds fishy, right? A judge thought so.

Ignoring complaints: Bad strategy likely to backfire

02/28/2011
Think if someone complains to HR and you just kick it up the chain of command, the problem will just take care of itself? Think again.

Certain you had a good reason for firing? Don’t agonize over decision–or fear a bias suit

02/28/2011

Do you live in fear of being sued for discrimination? Don’t let it compromise your legitimate decisions. If you’re confident that you have good reasons to fire someone, don’t worry about whom you hire to replace that employee. Even if the replacement is outside the fired employee’s protected class, she probably won’t be able to successfully sue you.

Use last-chance agreements to force rule-breakers to either shape up or ship out

02/28/2011

Some employees think they can freely break rules they consider unimportant. Trouble is, other employees often follow suit. Your best bet for stopping such nonsense: Explain to the main culprit that his behavior is unacceptable—and then give him one last chance. Get that warning in writing with a formal last-chance agreement.