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Q&A

What are my federal record-keeping requirements?

10/07/2014
Q. As a private employer, what federal record-keeping regulations must I follow?

When is an employee covered by the FMLA?

10/07/2014
Q. An employee has worked for us for 12 months, but the service has not been consecutive. Does he still qualify for leave under the FMLA?

How do I get workers comp coverage?

10/07/2014
Q. How do I go about obtaining workers’ compensation coverage? Once I have this coverage, what related rights do I have?

What’s not covered by workers’ comp?

10/07/2014
Q. As a Texas employer, what types of workplace injuries are excepted from my workers’ compensation insurance coverage?

Is an employee entitled to take FMLA leave to care for her hospitalized adult child?

09/26/2014
Q. Would FMLA leave apply to an employee who requests leave time to care for her daughter who is over age 21 and married? The daughter’s illness required hospitalization, but her husband is overseas on active duty with the military.

Can we–should we–try to accommodate employee’s traffic anxiety?

09/26/2014

Q. One of our employees claims that traffic gives her anxiety and wants to alter her work schedule to avoid driving during peak travel times. It wouldn’t be a big deal but we’re afraid that if we do it for her, we will start to receive similar claims from other workers who have similar commutes. Do we have to accommodate her?

When is telecommuting a reasonable accommodation under the ADA and state law?

09/19/2014
Q. One of my employees was recently injured in a nonwork-related accident. If this employee returns to work and requires an accommodation to perform his duties, can allowing him to telecommute be considered reasonable accommodation?

How honest can I be when called for a reference on a subpar former employee?

09/19/2014
Q. I recently fired one of my employees, but today another company called me, stating that the former employee marked me down on a job application as an employment reference. Can I tell the prospective em­­ployer about how terrible an employee this person was?

Is it OK to have a blanket policy of rejecting applicants with criminal histories?

09/19/2014
Q. I believe I should be able to refuse employment to any prospective employee with a record of criminal conviction. Can I institute a blanket policy that bars employment to applicants with criminal records? Also, what can I ask applicants about their criminal records?

How do we rein in our staff on social media?

09/19/2014
Q. What are the rules and laws about social media? We have employees who have generated Facebook pages with our company name. They are also posting information that we are not ready to publish—such as the opening of another store in a new city.