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Firing

Learn from public employee’s ‘reputation’ suit–even if you’re a private-sector employer

06/15/2011

Government employees have some rights that private-sector employees don’t have, including so-called liberty and property interests in their jobs. That can include the right to a hearing and an opportunity to present their side of the story before being discharged. It also includes the right to preserve their reputations.

When misbehavior demands termination, it’s best to stick with one reason for firing

06/10/2011
Here’s an important reminder to heed when you must discipline employees: If an employee commits a major rule violation that justifies termination, rely on that reason alone. Resist the temptation to pile on additional reasons. It may make defending a lawsuit that much easier.

OK to fire on basis of some taped phone calls

06/10/2011

Illinois has strict laws against recording telephone conversations without permission. But those laws allow recording if a party to the conversation believes a crime is being or is about to be committed. In some cases, that means you can use a recorded phone call as the basis for termination.

What can we do to protect ourselves? A worker leveled threats after we fired him

06/08/2011
Q. We recently fired an employee because of insubordination and anger-management issues. The termination meeting, not surprisingly, didn’t go well and the employee became very agitated. He made some statements that could be interpreted as vague threats against his supervisor and our company. Is there anything we can or should do to protect ourselves from this former employee?

Employees can’t demand specific schedule

06/08/2011
Employees sometimes think that employers have to accommodate all their schedule requests. Not usually. Often, employees fired for refusing to work their scheduled hours expect to receive unemployment benefits.

Insubordination always a legitimate reason to fire

06/07/2011
Employers have the right to expect em­­ployees to listen to reasonable directions, accept criticism and otherwise behave in a civilized way. When an employee becomes insubordinate, the employer has the right to discipline her, including firing if necessary.

Document exact timing of decision to fire

06/07/2011
When firing an employee, always note exactly when you decided to terminate her. You will no doubt know before the employee does. Your good record-keeping can shoot down an employee’s attempt to blame the firing on something illegal—like disability discrimination or an attempt to interfere with the employee’s FMLA rights.

How not to handle FMLA leave (Hint: Following the law isn’t optional!)

06/07/2011

Sure, it’s inconvenient when employees need to take FMLA leave. But you can’t tweak FMLA policies just to suit your operational needs. If you try it, prepare to get out your checkbook. Your employee will have a slam-dunk case to bring to court.

Dillard’s must take $50,000 from till to pay for age bias

06/01/2011
Managers at the Dillard’s department store in Cary have learned the hard way that forcing out older workers simply because of their age doesn’t pay.

For trusted public employees, unsavory off-duty conduct can amount to a firing offense

05/20/2011
Most employees can’t be fired for their legal, off-duty activities. But that’s not true for some government employees. For example, police officers, judges and teachers have a higher duty to the citizens they serve, and they can be terminated for off-duty conduct.