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Terminations

COBRA subsidy expanded, extended through May 31

04/28/2010
On April 15, President Obama signed into law amendments to the COBRA subsidy provision of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus. Those amendments—plus amendments enacted in March—not only extend the time that the subsidy is available, but also offer it to certain individuals whose hours were reduced before they were involuntary terminated.

Follow your own rules, and be confident you’ll win lawsuits

04/28/2010

Any employee can file a lawsuit for any reason. But filing and winning are two different things. Most lawsuits end up dismissed after the employer shows the court it followed its own rules and fairly disciplined the employee.

OK to differentiate between probationary, other employees

04/28/2010
Occasionally, you can tell early on that an employee isn’t going to work out. Perhaps she doesn’t seem to be catching on very well, or maybe she treats co-workers or supervisors with disrespect. While you might put up with some level of poor behavior from a proven long-term employee, you don’t have to do so with a probationary one.

Don’t marginalize harassing behavior–you could trigger constructive discharge suit

04/28/2010

If you haven’t already done so, now is a good time to remind everyone in HR to avoid playing down or dismissing the impact of supervisor harassment on employees. It may be tempting to tell a complaining employee that she’s making a mountain out of a molehill. But understand that telling an employee she should get over it and return to work may prompt her to quit—and then sue you.

How a boss’s Kwik-E-Mart trip cost $100K

04/27/2010

Employment law risks don’t disappear the minute your managers leave the building at the day’s end. Those risks follow managers around constantly. That’s why you should make clear to supervisors that they should never discuss personnel matters outside the workplace—even at the corner Kwik-E-Mart.

New amendments extend COBRA 65% subsidy to May 31

04/23/2010
Effective April 15, 2010, the 65% COBRA premium subsidy program that originally took effect in early 2009 will remain available until May 31, 2010. The new date became official on April 15 when President Obama signed the Continuing Extension Act of 2010, which stretched eligibility for the subsidy and extended several other federal benefits designed to help unemployed workers.

65% COBRA subsidy extended through May 31

04/20/2010

On April 15, President Obama signed into law amendments that extend eligibility for the 65% COBRA subsidy through May 31. The amendments buy time for Congress to consider additional legislation that could keep the subsidy alive until the end of the year.

Must we offer severance pay?

04/19/2010
Q. Because of a downturn in our business, we are thinking of eliminating a position. Are we required to offer severance pay to the terminated employee?

Use new EEOC guidance to review severance agreements

04/19/2010
Employers have a new primer from the EEOC on how to craft legally compliant severance agreements. Although Understanding Waivers of Discrimination Claims in Employee Severance Agreements was designed to answer employee questions about severance agreements, it offers useful guidance to employers, too.

White Way says EEOC took it to the cleaners

04/19/2010

St. Paul-based White Way Dry Cleaners has paid $42,250 to a former employee who filed an EEOC pregnancy discrimination lawsuit. The case arose when Michelle Johnson was transferred from her job pressing clothes to a counter position after telling her bosses she was pregnant. White Way had a longstanding policy of transferring pregnant employees to protect them from chemicals used in the dry cleaning process.