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Pennsylvania

Beware firing after employee has asked for FMLA leave

04/02/2019
Terminating an employee for absenteeism after she’s requested FMLA leave is likely to trigger a lawsuit.

Employees have three years to sue for willful violations of the FMLA

04/02/2019
Employers that retaliate against employees for taking FMLA leave may find themselves being sued a full three years after the alleged infraction.

Found errors in retirement accounts? By all means, go ahead and fix them

04/02/2019
Small employers don’t always get everything right when dealing with the complex rules governing employee retirement accounts. Making an honest mistake and then fixing it generally doesn’t violate the law.

Beware retaliation after race bias complaint

04/02/2019
Employees who file internal discrimination complaints are protected from retaliation for doing so, even if the complaint turns out to be unfounded. Something like a demotion or significantly different job duties can be retaliation.

No unemployment comp after bizarre threats

04/02/2019
Workers who are fired for willful misconduct are not eligible for unemployment compensation benefits. Breaking a rule against making threats or committing violence generally meets the requirement of willful misconduct as long as the employee knew or should have known about the rule.

Does working a gig job rule out unemployment benefits?

03/15/2019
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has agreed to hear the appeal of an unemployed worker who was denied unemployment compensation insurance benefits because he became an Uber driver after he was laid off.

What is a ‘public body’ for whistleblowing purposes?

03/15/2019
Pennsylvania employees are protected from retaliation for whistleblowing involving a “public body” under the Pennsylvania Whistleblower Law. But what about private employers that receive state or federal funding?

Resist temptation to act on presumptions about pregnant employees’ abilities

03/15/2019
Some managers continue to hold outdated views on pregnancy and the capacity for a woman to work while awaiting the birth of her child. Being vocal about these views—and especially acting on them—is almost certain to provoke a lawsuit.

Lawsuit alert: Beware disciplining for infractions of seldom-enforced rules

03/15/2019
Sometimes, supervisors get frustrated with workers they consider trouble makers because they complain all the time. Those bosses need to think twice before they retaliate by strictly enforcing work rules—especially if they have often ignored those rules in the past.

Most self-medication with marijuana remains illegal, and is grounds for discharge

03/15/2019
A federal court has ruled that a worker’s self-administration of an illegal drug for pain relief was grounds for discharge under an employer’s drug policy.