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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.

Can we legally cap paid sick leave?

08/23/2012

Q. One of our managers has medical problems and has used a significant amount of paid sick leave. Because we don’t have a defined sick pay policy, this manager uses paid sick time whenever she’s out (full day or half day). How can we legally cap this? Is developing a policy with specific hours our only alternative?

Must we explain our reason for firing?

08/23/2012

Q. We recently terminated an employee. He claims he is legally entitled to a letter outlining the reasons for his discharge. Is he correct?

‘Textual’ harassment? OMG! Develop policy B4 you face lawsuit

08/23/2012
One of the most dangerous smartphone functions (from the employer perspective) is also one of the simplest: sending text messages. Considering the rise in harassment claims based on texts, employers should develop policies addressing textual harassment in the workplace.

EEOC forces cardiologists to have change of heart

08/23/2012
A Western Pennsylvania cardiology practice has agreed to settle EEOC sexual harassment charges alleging that its doctors routinely made sexually offensive and debasing comments to women who worked there.

Philadelphia issues regs on mandatory paid sick leave

08/23/2012
Philadelphia employers that do business with the city had to begin providing paid sick leave to their employees on July 1, when new provisions of the city’s “21st Century Minimum Wage Standard” went into effect.

Track discipline in a way that allows easy recall

08/23/2012
You will never know which employee will sue or for what reason. That’s a good reason to carefully track all discipline and make the records easy to access.

For unemployment, there’s stupid, then there’s willful

08/23/2012

Employees are typically ineligible for unemployment benefits if they were fired for creating a hostile work environment. That usually amounts to willful misconduct, which disqualifies them from collecting unemployment. But not every crude or stupid action is serious enough to bar benefits, as this case shows.

Want to fire employee for attendance problems? Make sure no absences are FMLA-related

08/23/2012
It’s frustrating to deal with employees who call in on short notice to say they won’t be able to make it to work. Even so, don’t let it get to you. An angry reaction could launch an FMLA lawsuit. That could happen if you are already thinking about terminating the employee.

Suspect employee is scamming FMLA leave? Investigate–and discipline if it’s true

08/23/2012

When an employee takes FMLA leave because her physician says she’s too sick to work and needs to stay home, it’s natural to assume she’ll follow the doctor’s orders. But what if you discover that she isn’t—and is instead working for someone else during her leave? Can you terminate her? Of course.

Fayette County grocer to settle sex harassment beef

08/23/2012
A Fayette County grocery store will pay $95,000 to settle four sexual harassment complaints filed by female employees who alleged the store’s meat manager harassed them by constantly making crude remarks and touching them.