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Q&A

Greater penalties for unequal pay these days?

04/19/2012
Q. Has the penalty for employer violations of the Illinois Equal Pay Act recently increased?

What are the rules for requesting FMLA leave?

04/19/2012
Q. Does an employee who wants to take FMLA leave have to specifically ask for it by name?

Must we honor an attorney’s request for our employee’s personnel records?

04/12/2012
Q. We recently received a letter from an attorney representing one of our employees. It requested “all personnel files and records, including all medical ­rec­ords” that we have on this employee. The letter contained an “authorization” that the employee had signed, but which did not specifically name our company. Do we have to provide this information? What if we don’t? And is there any risk to the company if we do provide it?

As union eyes our workforce, what should we do about its request for pay information?

04/12/2012
Q. I run a nonunion construction contracting company. We recently received a letter from a union stating that they believe we are paying substandard wages and benefits. The letter asked us to provide any information we might have to show that they are wrong and that we are paying area standard compensation to our people. Does the union have a right to this information?

Selling the company: When must we tell employees?

04/09/2012
Q. We are selling our small business (15 employees). The company buying us won’t be hiring our staff. How many days’ notice is required to notify our employees? Will our employees qualify for unemployment benefits?

Error on the I-9: Edit it or create a new one?

04/03/2012
Q. If an error is found on an employee’s I-9 form, can HR request that the employee complete a new form?

Must we allow vacation leave accrual while employees are out on FMLA leave?

03/29/2012
Q. I’m under the impression that our company is obligated to give employees all vacation accrued up to the time of their FMLA leave, but we’re not obligated to let employees accrue vacation leave during their FMLA leave. Am I right?

Do we have to post all jobs internally?

03/29/2012
Q. We rarely post high-level management jobs internally. Must all jobs be posted internally so someone can’t file suit claiming “pre-selection” or that he never had a chance to apply?

Is it risky to indemnify a candidate against violating a noncompete agreement?

03/29/2012
Q. We want to hire someone who signed a noncompete agreement with his current employer. He asked us to indemnify him in the event his employer sues him. What are the legal risks associated with agreeing to indemnify him?

Can we force forfeiture of vacation days?

03/29/2012
Q. Under our company policy, an employee who fails to give 20 working days’ notice before resigning forfeits any earned vacation days. Is this policy lawful?