Firing

Employee moonlighting: Should you ban it?

06/01/2005

Issue: One in 20 employees moonlights, and a hot labor market offers employees in your shop new opportunities to work second jobs.
Risk: Moonlighting can create tired, distracted employees, plus …

Choose ‘firing words’ carefully; stick to performance

06/01/2005

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Female employees can sue for ‘potty parity’

06/01/2005

Don’t make different bathroom-break rules for the different sexes. Case in point: A manufacturer’s new factory had only one restroom, which was designed for men. Female employees could use that restroom …

Don’t retaliate against employees for controversial public opinions

05/01/2005

If your organization does business with any government entity (from a state agency to a local school board), be wary of allowing government officials to become involved in your employee discipline …

Don’t ‘get tough’ on certain staff; tie punishment to crime

05/01/2005

Issue: Supervisors tend to be quicker in disciplining employees that have given them trouble in the past.
Risk: Singling out certain “troublemakers” for discipline can spur a retaliation lawsuit.
…

State law dictates employees’ access to personnel file

05/01/2005

Q. An ex-employee whom we fired is now asking to take some documents from his personnel file. Is he legally allowed to do this? Do we have to give him the information just because he’s asking for it? —L.B., North Carolina

Will your anti-retaliation policy pay off?

04/01/2005

When it comes to handling employee complaints of unfair treatment, you’d better have a policy and a procedure in place to handle retaliation claims.
That’s the $520,000 message a federal …

Accommodate employee health issues, but don’t ‘play doctor’

04/01/2005

When employees suffer health problems that affect their work and could trigger ADA protection, you should start the interactive process and explore possible accommodations. But make sure your supervisors know not …

Avoid lawsuits by sticking to performance when you fire

04/01/2005

When terminating someone, it’s critical to choose your words very cautiously. Briefly summarize your reasons for the firing, and allow the person to offer his or her side of the story, …

Employees can’t cry ‘retaliation’ if they’re not eligible for leave

04/01/2005

Issue: Employees can sue for FMLA retaliation only if they’ve put in the minimum hours to become eligible for FMLA leave.
Benefit: Less risk of first-year employees winning FMLA-retaliation suits. …