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Pennsylvania

You can insist on complete Labor Dept. FMLA form

12/04/2007

Intermittent leave is one of the trickiest areas of the FMLA. While employees with chronic health conditions may need short periods of time off when their conditions flare up, employers also know FMLA intermittent leave is prone to abuse. That’s why it’s important to immediately nail down the expected frequency and duration of intermittent leave …

Make it your policy: Mum’s the word on military service

12/01/2007

With more and more citizen-soldiers being called to long tours of duty, being a member of the reserves or the National Guard no longer seems like a part-time position. Inconvenient as it may be, resist the temptation to mention someone’s military service in performance reviews, at bonus time or when considering service members for promotions or raises …

Tell managers: Avoid subjective hiring preferences

12/01/2007

When it comes to hiring and promotions, it’s best to avoid subjectivity in the selection process. Tell managers and supervisors: If they have to rely on hunches, impressions and whether they “feel” one candidate is a better choice than another candidate, they are asking for trouble …

Is employee disabled or not? How to make the ADA call

12/01/2007

It’s happened to most HR specialists—a supervisor calls and says an employee claims he’s disabled so he can’t work the night shift or lift anything heavier than a ream of paper. Plus, the employee wants extra breaks beyond those everyone else gets because his disability tires him easily. How do you respond? …

Investigate—And then explain decision to discipline or not

12/01/2007

Just about every harassment allegation deserves some sort of investigation. After all, that’s the only way to tell what is really happening down in the trenches. But that doesn’t mean each and every accusation should result in discipline or some other tangible action …

Former employee working ‘Under the table’ can lose future unemployment benefits

12/01/2007

Former employees who collect unemployment sometimes work “off the books” while collecting payments. That’s illegal, of course. Those found to have violated the law by not reporting self-employment or casual labor may be banned from collecting unemployment in the future. They also will owe repayment. But unless the proper authorities know about the activity, nothing will happen …

‘Last-Chance agreements’ are reasonable accommodations for substance abuse

12/01/2007

A court has ruled that so-called “last-chance agreements”—which put off discharge in favor of treatment for an active drug or alcohol problem—are valid as reasonable accommodations. If last-chance agreements were banned, employees with substance abuse problems would lose an important avenue toward keeping their jobs …

In Pennsylvania lately, no noose is good news

12/01/2007

A recent spate of bizarre “noose” incidents at workplaces in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh have activists calling for tough responses. A Verizon worker in Butler County discovered a doll with a noose around its neck and a note saying she didn’t deserve a promotion. Days later, a worker at a construction site in O’Hara Township found a noose in his work area …

Best Buy hit with class-Action suit demanding back wages

12/01/2007

Jason Hall, of Malvern, who worked for two months in 2006 at the North Wales Best Buy store, has filed a suit over unpaid time spent by employees undergoing security searches and working through breaks …

Philadelphia hotel sales rep sentenced for hate crime

12/01/2007

Kia Reid, a former sales representative at a Sheraton Suites hotel in Philadelphia, was sentenced to eight months in a community corrections center plus two years of probation for sending a threatening note to her supervisor, who is an American Muslim of Arabic descent …