Terminations

You can’t ask employees to sign away FMLA rights

10/01/2005

Issue: Severance packages usually ask departing employees to waive their rights to file various employment lawsuits.
Risk: If you include FMLA in that mix, you’ll risk having the whole package …

Turn to Last-Chance Agreements for Legal Leverage

10/01/2005

Many employers use "last-chance agreements" to give employees one final opportunity to turn around attendance, productivity and attitude problems. Here’s good news if you use last-chance agreements on employees with drug and alcohol problems: The ADA and many state laws give you the leverage to keep employees clean … and fire them if they’re not …

Drug-test cheating on the rise; fight back with random tests

10/01/2005

Can you trust negative drug test results anymore?
The Internet is flooded with products, more than 400, according to a Business Insurance report, that help employees and job candidates cheat …

Don’t drag your feet on employees’ accommodation requests

10/01/2005

Some problems will eventually go away if you wait long enough. But that’s not the attitude to take when employees request workplace accommodations for their physical or mental conditions.
The …

Continued employment enough to bind employees to noncompete pact

10/01/2005

You may be afraid that your top salesperson or IT whiz is about to jump ship to the competition, but you failed to sign those employees to noncompete agreements when you …

Clarify ‘for cause’ terminations in severance-pact wording

09/01/2005

Issue: Severance agreements that deny severance payments to employees fired “for cause.”
Risk: Failing to clarify “for cause” could result in having to pay severance to people fired for blatant …

You can be sued for what you say during an investigation

09/01/2005

When discussing hiring, firing or promotion decisions, make sure you can back up any claims with some proof. And impress upon others involved in such discussions to also be truthful and …

Self-diagnosis won’t cut it; require proof of disability

09/01/2005

Do you have an employee whose sniffles, coughing or health complaints drive co-workers crazy? Has she told you that she’s disabled and can’t help the snorting and sneezing? You don’t need …

Don’t ask employees to sign away their FMLA rights

09/01/2005

In severance agreements, employers typically require employees to sign promises not to file employment-related lawsuits. But don’t try to include FMLA rights in that
waiver.
Why? A new ruling …

Stay on guard against top 10 ‘bad boss’ behaviors

09/01/2005

Bad managers are the main reason many employees quit. An online survey at KeepEm.com details which bad-boss behaviors would make them quit. The top 10 worst offenses, in order: belittles people …