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Pennsylvania

Is it illegal to read others’ work e-mail?

09/24/2008

Q. I have reason to believe that someone in my department is reading my e-mail without my consent. Isn’t that illegal? …

What should we do if we suspect an employee is abusing workers’ comp?

09/24/2008

Q. How far can we go to make sure employees aren’t taking advantage of our company while they’re out on workers’ comp leave? Can we, for example, call them at home to make sure they are resting and not out working another job or otherwise abusing the system? …

Can we require male employees to keep their hair cut short?

09/24/2008

Q. May we require male employees’ hair be a certain length, or is that discrimination? Also, may we prohibit beards? …

How should we respond to employee’s fear she’s being stalked?

09/24/2008

Q. One of our female employees says her ex-boyfriend is stalking her. She hasn’t been able to get a restraining order against him. We’re worried that he may show up and harm her or other workers. Can we fire or suspend her? …

Is it OK to exclude vacation pay when figuring base rate for overtime?

09/24/2008

Q. When we are figuring employees’ base pay for overtime calculations, can we exclude their vacation pay?

No translation needed for arbitration agreements to be valid

09/22/2008

You might worry that people who don’t speak English well won’t be bound by contracts such as arbitration agreements. If applicants or employees can’t read an agreement, it would seem logical that they couldn’t agree to the terms. You have little to fear …

‘Employee’ misclassified? Refer to IRS to recover SS taxes

09/22/2008

Employees have to pay 7.65% of their wages in Social Security taxes, while employers pay a matching 7.65%. Independent contractors have to pay the entire 15.3% themselves. But what happens if an independent contractor is misclassified and should really be an employee? Can the individual sue her putative “employer” for the 7.65% the company should have paid? …

It’s up to you to stay current on industry-specific regs

09/22/2008

It’s tough to keep up on all the latest changes in employment law. Busy HR professionals have to handle day-to-day problems and make sure new rules and regulations make their way into that routine. But it’s vital to be up to date on new regulations relevant to your industry. Otherwise, you could face extensive, expensive and needless litigation …

Was worker claiming harassment part of the problem?

09/22/2008

Employers are supposed to make sure that harassment doesn’t happen—and stop it if it does. But sometimes, the employee complaining the loudest may actually be part of the problem. If that’s the case, the responsible thing to do is to stop all the harassment, from all the participants …

Halfhearted effort at bailout no excuse for failure to WARN

09/22/2008

Under the WARN Act, employers with at least 100 employees must notify their employees at least 60 days before shutting down or implementing a mass layoff. There is a “faltering company” exception for businesses actively looking for financing or an alternative to shutting down. But employers can only exercise the faltering company exception if they can show they were actively looking for money or business opportunities …