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Pennsylvania

AK Steel to pay $175 million for Butler retirees’ health care

02/28/2011

AK Steel has settled a lawsuit brought by former employees of its Butler Works operation north of Pittsburgh after the company announced it would cut some retirement health benefits and begin charging premiums for others.

No adverse action? Then don’t fear constructive discharge

02/28/2011

Employees sometimes quit and claim they had no choice because work conditions were so terrible. Sometimes, they sue. In most such cases—the argument is called “constructive discharge”—courts side with employers, provided there’s no evidence the employee suffered an adverse employment action such as a transfer, demotion or pay cut.

Make it easy for courts to see your side–investigate thoroughly before disciplining

02/15/2011

Courts don’t expect employers to set up the equivalent of a judicial system for disciplining employees. They just want to see a reasonable effort to ferret out the truth.

Make your arbitration agreements stick: Consult lawyer, communicate with employees

02/15/2011

If you’re considering so-called alternative dispute resolution, be sure to have an experienced attorney draw up the arbitration agreement. It should clearly state that all employment disputes will be handled by arbitration. Your role in HR is to take all necessary steps to ensure employees understand that agreeing to arbitration is a condition of employment.

Injured employee may have returned too soon: Can we require him to take more leave?

02/10/2011

Q. We’re afraid that a previously injured worker returned from medical leave too soon. Can we require him to take additional leave if it’s obvious that the injury is still hurting his job performance?

With harassment, punishment should fit crime

02/10/2011

Employers sometimes assume they have to harshly punish every incident that violates their sexual harassment policies—which often means termination. That isn’t necessarily so. You can differentiate between various kinds of conduct that fit your definition of harassment, but clearly aren’t equally severe.

New hire’s skills and pay top ex-employee’s? Justify based on business needs

01/28/2011

Judges see a lot. It’s usually pretty easy for them to figure out when an employer is trying to use “the lousy economy” as a pretext to discriminate against an employee. But judges are also good at recognizing when discrimination hasn’t been a factor in an employment decision.

If fear is a factor, fire threatening employee

01/28/2011

It’s a legitimate workplace fear: Someone with emotional or mental problems will act out against co-workers. Sometimes, the consequences are deadly. Most of the time, threats of violence are just words. But words are enough to justify firing an employee who expresses intent to do harm, because of the fear that it instills in others.

Do we owe STD benefits to employee who has been terminated after FMLA leave expires?

01/26/2011

Q. Our policy is to run FMLA leave and short-term disability (STD) concurrently. The FMLA is for 12 weeks of job-protected leave. STD is for 26 weeks, with proper medical documentation. Can we terminate an employee at the end of 12 weeks, when FMLA leave is exhausted? And, if so, do we end STD payments, since the employee has been terminated?

What are Pennsylvania’s breaks rules?