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Pennsylvania

How can we legally handle paychecks when employees use designees for pickup?

04/22/2009

Q. Once a year, we have employees show a picture ID and provide a signature that allows them to authorize someone else to pick up their paychecks for them. If an employee doesn’t provide ID and a signature, we will mail the check or hold it until he or she personally picks it up. Is this legal?

Juggling vacation, military and family leave under new FMLA regs

04/02/2009

The FMLA now requires employers to give employees serving in the military (or who are next of kin to service members) up to 26 weeks of unpaid leave under specific conditions. While few employers begrudge military families such leave, unforeseen leave can pose scheduling problems as employers come into the summer vacation season.

Settlement agreement may be binding even without signature

03/30/2009

Here’s something to consider when deciding whether to settle a case. An oral agreement may be binding even if the parties never actually signed a written version. It’s a contract as long as the parties clearly agreed to the essential terms.

Promoting? Avoid any appearance of favoritism

03/26/2009

Choosing which of your employees to promote is always difficult, since at least one employee will be disappointed. That can lead to friction or even a lawsuit. That’s why it’s crucial for the entire process to look—and be—as transparent as possible. You simply must avoid any appearance of favoritism.

Elected officials can fire holdover appointees

03/26/2009

A newly elected official may want to terminate those employees politically tied to his predecessor—and he often may ask HR how to handle the firings. Because such cases can be close calls, always refer the matter to experienced legal counsel.

Tell well-intentioned managers: You must route all ADA accommodation requests through HR

03/26/2009

Sometimes, immediate supervisors want to be helpful when a valued employee asks for disability accommodations that seem reasonable. Instead of having HR handle the ADA process, they just make the accommodations themselves. That’s a scenario for trouble down the line.

Refer to the rule book: Hiring and promotion policies belong in your employee handbook

03/26/2009

Employers with a good employee handbook that explicitly sets out the rules for handling hiring, promotions and raises have a huge advantage if there’s ever a complaint that those processes have been unfairly applied. Clearly written policies are one great way to counter the “he told me” claims …

Set up correspondence log tracking all incoming mail, faxes and e-mails

03/26/2009

It’s common sense: You can retaliate only if you know about whatever it is you are supposedly retaliating against. If you can show you never knew an employee was engaged in an alleged protected activity, it becomes impossible for an employee
to win a retaliation claim.

Don’t promise FMLA leave if you’re not required to comply

03/26/2009

In Pennsylvania, employers that make a promise that an employee reasonably relies on may be liable if that promise isn’t fulfilled and the employee suffers harm as a result. This quasi-contract theory has FMLA implications …

Remind bosses: Don’t discuss reason for firing with others

03/26/2009

Sometimes, employees who’ve been terminated go looking for an excuse to sue. And when something as simple as an offhand conversation gets back to the former employee through the grapevine, it could fan flames that turn into a defamation lawsuit.