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Firing

Exit Interviews

03/08/2007

HR Law 101: Nowadays, most organizations conduct exit interviews with departing employees to determine why they’ve resigned. Exit interviews can be a great HR tool, but you have to know what questions to ask and, at the same time, what questions to avoid for legal reasons.

Youth-Based Discrimination Claims

03/08/2007

HR Law 101: Under the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act, employees must be 40 or older to file an age-bias lawsuit. But several states (among them Maine, Michigan, New Jersey, New York and Oregon) don’t include a minimum age at which legal protection begins …

Performance Reviews

03/07/2007

HR Law 101: There are two important reasons why you should conduct regular appraisals of your employees’ performance. First, periodic and competent appraisals reduce the opportunity for a discharged employee to claim unfair treatment. The appraisal process alerts employees to what you expect of them, areas in which they’re deficient and how they can improve their performance. Second, appraisals constitute documented proof of unsatisfactory performance that will help you justify employment decisions …

Any ethnic stereotype, even a positive one, can trigger a job discrimination lawsuit

03/01/2007

Most supervisors know that it’s illegal to voice negative racial, age or gender stereotypes in the workplace. But they may not realize that positive stereotypes also can lead to trouble …

FMLA may require reinstatement, even with work restrictions

03/01/2007

The FMLA lets qualified employees take up to 12 weeks of unpaid medical leave each year if suffering from a serious illness. The law also entitles them to reinstatement to the same or an equivalent job when they return. But what if the employee has a lingering work restriction, such as a temporary lifting limit?…

A case study in how NOT to handle ‘Frivolous’ complaints

03/01/2007

You and the supervisors at your organization may already know how to handle a sexual harassment complaint that appears genuine. But what should you do when you seriously doubt that a claim is legit? …

What should you do when an employee gets arrested

03/01/2007

You’re driving into work and hear a radio report about a late-night accident caused by an alleged drunk driver. The driver is behind bars. When they say his name, you’re shocked. That’s Bill from marketing! …

Defuse bias suits by tracking which staff you discipline

03/01/2007

It’s a good idea to track the age, race, religion, sex or other characteristics of employees you discipline. Being able to see, at a glance, a potentially discriminatory pattern can help you make a midcourse correction …

Throwing the book at a worker: A good lawsuit defense

03/01/2007

When faced with an employee who has committed numerous rule violations, do you pick the most serious one and act on that? If so, you may want to rethink that strategy …

The gloves are off: Haitians win lawsuit against landscaping firm

03/01/2007

Dias Landscapes Corporation of Boynton Beach will pay $150,000 to settle an EEOC lawsuit over firing five Haitian employees and replacing them with Hispanic workers …