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Pennsylvania

Use discipline instead of docking pay

07/01/2007

Q. Can I dock an employee’s pay for failing to meet a production quota?

No expectation of privacy on work PCs

07/01/2007

Q.  An employee recently complained that she had received pornographic e-mail messages and links to X-rated web sites from some of her co-workers. I want to review these messages — and other messages these guys have sent — to figure out exactly how large a problem I’m facing. Can I do this?

Time off for special-needs child

07/01/2007

Q. Our office secretary is the backbone of our company. Her son is in special education, and she periodically asks for time off to attend various school conferences and meetings about his progress. I don’t want to be stingy, but her absences really create problems for us. Do I have to allow her to take time off for these meetings?

Double-Check race and sex mix of promoted work force

06/01/2007

It seems counterintuitive: Managers and supervisors must be colorblind when selecting employees, yet HR absolutely should track the racial and other characteristics of those who are promoted …

Stick to objective standards to avoid needless litigation

06/01/2007

If your organization is like most, you want to promote from within to build morale and reward hard work. How you handle those promotions can spell the difference between a harmonious and productive workplace and a discordant one, rife with jealousy and resentment …

You can include FMLA waiver in severance agreement

06/01/2007

Until recently, it was unclear whether Pennsylvania employers could require employees to give up the right to sue for FMLA violations in exchange for severance payments. That was because the FMLA explicitly says employees can’t waive their FMLA rights as a condition of employment …

Setting overtime with Pa. agency covers fed claim too

06/01/2007

Good news for employers: If an employee files an overtime claim with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry and the department settles the case and collects wages for the employee, the employee can’t turn around and also sue under the FLSA …

Dust off your harassment policy or face the jury

06/01/2007

Too many companies’ sexual harassment policies are ancient history—drafted almost a decade ago after the U.S. Supreme Court laid down strict liability rules for how employers must protect employees from sexual harassment. But a dusty binder on a shelf won’t do anything to protect your company …

‘Soft’ termination rationale increases chance of jury trial

06/01/2007

Does your disciplinary policy call for dismissing employees who coerce or intimidate other employees? Understand that firing an employee for violating such rules might make a jury trial more likely …

It’s final: Non-Lawyer reps OK at unemployment comp hearings

06/01/2007

After years of litigation and legislation, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has finally put the issue to rest: Employers are free to represent themselves or hire a non-attorney advisor to present their case when an employee wants an unemployment compensation hearing …