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Pennsylvania

Unemployment: Workplace threats are grounds to quit

01/04/2016
Employees who report being threatened at work can quit and collect unemployment benefits if their em­­ployer doesn’t act fast to provide a safe workplace. Such a “compelling and necessitous” reason to quit makes the employee eligible.

Local anti-bias laws may help employees–or help you get cases dismissed

01/04/2016
You may have heard that employees have new opportunities to sue their employers based on local laws that expand employment protections and prohibit forms of discrimination that state or federal laws don’t include. Sometimes, that’s true. Fortunately, though, these new laws and their regulations may trip up employees and give you an opportunity to push for the case to be dismissed, as this recent case shows.

Investigation reveals bogus use of FMLA leave? You can and should discipline employee

01/04/2016
Some employees seem to think that if they are approved for FMLA leave, their employers have to accept their time off as legitimate. That’s true to a point. But it doesn’t mean employers can’t ferret out leave abuse if they have reason to believe the employee isn’t being honest.

Pennsylvania State Supreme Court rules on noncompetes

01/04/2016

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has clarified rules for noncompete agreements entered into after an employee has been hired. It has concluded for the first time that the employer must offer the employee (and the employee must accept) something of value beyond just a mutual promise to make the agreement binding. This has practical consequences for employers adopting or modifying employment agreements.

Hourly pay for temps could create ’employees’

01/04/2016
The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over Penn­­sylvania employers, has ruled that paying an hourly rate for temporary employees coming from an outside agency may mean those workers are your “employees” under anti-­discrimination laws.

EEOC sues staffing firm for harassment and retaliation

01/04/2016
The EEOC has filed suit against staffing company Labor Ready Mid-Atlantic for actions occurring at its office in Washington, Pa.

Satanic hand scanner costs company half a million dollars

01/04/2016
A mining company’s refusal to accommodate an employee’s religious belief has cost it $586,860. A federal jury in Pittsburgh decided that Consol Energy violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act when it refused an employee’s request to use an alternative method for tracking his hours.

Former Highmark exec sues insurer for $32M

01/04/2016
Kenneth Milani, former chief executive officer of Pennsylvania’s largest health insurer Highmark, is suing the company in the wake of his 2012 firing for lying about his relationship with a married Highmark employee.

Pennsylvania’s state revenue boss gets probation for harassment

01/04/2016
Albert Forlizzi II has fallen a long way. Now unemployed, the former supervisor at the State Department of Revenue and former mayor of Pen­­brook has been sentenced to four years probation after pleading no contest to charges of indecent assault and official oppression.

Are there any occasions when it would be appropriate to ask about applicant’s religion?

12/01/2015
Q. When, if ever, can our company legally ask an applicant about his or her religious affiliation?