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Pennsylvania

Providing additional leave? Employee loses some rights

04/30/2014

Sometimes, employees with serious medical conditions need more than 12 weeks of FMLA leave to fully re­­cover. Employers that choose to provide more leave or determine that it would be a reasonable accommodation to do so can extend the time off. But the employee loses some rights in the move.

ADA: Minor complications following surgery don’t add up to a disability

04/30/2014
When someone has surgery or undergoes extensive medical treatment, it’s fairly common to have temporary and lingering problems with energy levels, memory and general feelings of wellbeing. But these don’t make the employee disabled under the ADA.

ADA disability: Always allow for individualized assessment of employee’s condition

04/30/2014
Disabled employees are entitled to individualized assessments of their limitations so em­­ployers can determine if a reasonable accommodation is possible. It’s crucial to be flexible.

Pennsylvania among top 10 states for 2013 EEOC charges

04/30/2014
Ten states—mostly home to the nation’s largest cities or located in the South—accounted for 56% of all EEOC charges filed in 2013. Penn­­syl­­vania logged the seventh highest total.

Explain why employee didn’t receive training

04/30/2014
Employers should be careful to design training programs that make training opportunities available for all. But sometimes, an employee won’t be able to participate in training. In those cases, be prepared to explain why.

Can we compel a former employee to update LinkedIn to show she no longer works here?

04/09/2014
Q. It’s come to our attention that a former employee of ours has not updated her LinkedIn profile after her termination 10 months ago for insubordination. Would we have a cause of action against her?

No need to tolerate personal woes that spill over to workplace arguments

04/09/2014
When bad romance spills over to the workplace, you don’t have to put up with the aftermath. Set strict rules about behavior and don’t tolerate loud arguments, threats or other disruptions.

How far must we go to accommodate a pregnant employee’s no-lifting request?

03/31/2014
Q. We have a pregnant employee who works as a nurse and has asked that she be excused from lifting patients during her pregnancy. Do we have to grant her request?

Could we be penalized for misclassification?

03/31/2014
Q. We have some employees that have been misclassified as exempt. We are working to rectify the situation, but could we still be penalized for the time the employee was misclassified?

Could questioning an employee about an incident be considered assault?

03/31/2014
Q. One of our employees was involved in an incident and questioned regarding suspected ­wrongdoing. He is now bringing a suit against the company, alleging that the act of being brought into a room and questioned at length constitutes false imprisonment and that the aggressive questioning constituted assault. Does he have a case?