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Pennsylvania

Employment Lawyer Network:
Pennsylvania

Susan K. Lessack (Editor)

Pepper Hamilton LLP
Pennsylvania Employment Law

LessackS@PepperLaw.com
(610) 640-7806

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Susan K. Lessack is a partner in the Berwyn and Philadelphia offices of Pepper Hamilton LLP. She concentrates her practice in employment counseling and employment litigation. Ms. Lessack’s experience includes counseling employers on matters related to compliance with federal and state labor and employment laws, counseling regarding employee discipline and terminations, conducting investigations of employee conduct, including harassment, training employers on their obligations under employment laws and litigation avoidance, and developing employment policies. She defends employers in litigation of employment discrimination claims, wrongful discharge claims, and claims under federal and state employment-related statutes, such as the Family and Medical Leave Act and the Pennsylvania Wage Payment and Collection Law.

Giant stores boosts minimum pay to $9 per hour

07/24/2015
Giant Food Markets raised the minimum wage it pays for any position to $9 per hour in June. The change affected approximately two-thirds of the company’s 33,000 employees at both its Giant and Martin’s locations.

Policies are worthless if they’re not communicated

07/24/2015
An accountant for the state Depart­­ment of Health will get his job back after Commonwealth Court determined that, contrary to the given reason for his firing, his e-mail was not “combative”, “antagonistic”, or “accusatory.”

Absence alone isn’t grounds to deny unemployment comp

07/24/2015
Employees discharged for being absent may still be eligible for unemployment compensation. That’s because employees must have committed willful misconduct to lose the right to benefits. An employee fired for missing work because he couldn’t call in or otherwise comply with his employer’s call-off procedure, for example, would still be eligible.

Manager using slurs? Quick discipline limits your damage

07/24/2015
What should you do if you receive reports that a manager has uttered offensive slurs?

New boss is tougher on employees? That’s not bias without other evidence

07/24/2015
Does the arrival of a tougher scoring supervisor also mean extra liablity? Not necessarily, as a recent case shows.

Having a casual FMLA and sick leave policy can lead to formal charges

07/24/2015

It may be disruptive and expensive to provide an employee with up to 12 weeks of FMLA leave and continue to cover your share of an employee’s health insurance premiums. But ignoring your FMLA obligation—or trying to find creative ways around it—can be even more costly to your organization. Consider this recent Pennsylvania case in which the employee ended up losing her medical coverage during a health crisis. The employer has now been ordered to pay the employee’s medical bills directly.

Fully recovered employee isn’t disabled

07/24/2015

An employee who has fully recovered from a medical crisis isn’t likely to qualify as disabled under the ADA. Therefore, she would not be entitled to further accommodations. In addition, as this case shows, a few negative comments about her prior condition would not be considered to create a hostile environment.

Going easy on tardiness doesn’t mean you can never discipline for late arrival

07/03/2015

There are times that an employee can get away with behavior that you otherwise wouldn’t tolerate. During a busy period, for example, you might be more forgiving of tardiness than when things are slower. After all, when things are busy, a late employee may be better than no employee. But if you ignore tardiness, are you forever condemned to tolerate it? Of course not, as a recent case makes clear. Still, consistency is always the best practice.

Should we report suspected domestic abuse?

06/29/2015
Q. There is an employee within our company who repeatedly comes into work with injuries obviously suffered at the hand of her spouse. As an employer, do we have an obligation to alert authorities about at-home physical abuse of an employee?

Are we liable for food poisoning that employee suffers while working out of town?

06/29/2015
Q. We have a question regarding our crews that work out of town and stay out for about four days. Can we be held liable if they get sick on a meal that was paid for by the company? We are thinking about paying a per diem instead to resolve this issue. If an employee is working on a road crew and takes off sick and stays in motel room, are we required to supply him the meal per diem?