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Terminations

Employee performance not up to snuff? You must communicate your concerns

04/09/2012
Employers have an obligation to make sure employees know what kind of performance is expected of them. Under no circumstances should you wait until you’re ready to discharge the employee to put criticism in writing. That creates the suspicion that you came up with reasons as a cover for illegal discrimination.

Selling the company: When must we tell employees?

04/09/2012
Q. We are selling our small business (15 employees). The company buying us won’t be hiring our staff. How many days’ notice is required to notify our employees? Will our employees qualify for unemployment benefits?

Health insurer CEO axed over affair, arrest

04/05/2012
Highmark Blue Shield has terminated its CEO in the wake of criminal charges that he attacked the husband of a former employee with whom he was having an affair.

Detailed disciplinary records show you’re not biased

04/02/2012
Employers that keep detailed disciplinary records showing exactly why an employee was disciplined are much more likely to win lawsuits. That makes it harder for an employee to argue he was singled out for unfair, discriminatory punishment.

Don’t let insubordinate employee hide behind dubious ‘That’s illegal!’ claim

03/30/2012
Employers can’t fire employees for refusing to engage in criminal acts. But that doesn’t mean em­­ployees can proclaim “That’s illegal!” and expect to get away with what is really insubordination.

Employee out of FMLA leave and unable to do the job? It’s time to consider termination

03/30/2012

You probably know that when a disabled employee has used up all his FMLA leave entitlement, he may still be entitled to reasonable accommodations under the ADA. It’s legitimate to offer additional leave as a reasonable accommodation. However, at some point, time off can be a burden for employers, especially when the employee can’t estimate when he will be ready to return. In that case, it may be time to terminate the employee.

Texas Supreme Court rules on jury-trial waivers

03/30/2012
The Texas Supreme Court has handed an important victory to Texas employers eager to avoid jury trials for employment disputes: It ruled that, as long as the employees are at-will workers, threatening to fire them for refusing to give up the right to a jury trial does not invalidate the agreement.

Treat arbitration like any other litigation

03/30/2012
Employers sometimes assume that because a case is in arbitration, they don’t have to take the case as seriously as they would during courtroom proceedings. That can be a big mistake.

Full-time leave for medical treatment? Make sure it’s what employee wants

03/29/2012
Faced with a sick employee, you may recommend short-term disability leave to receive medical treatment. But that could violate the ADA if the employee neither needs nor wants all that time off.

Age comments plus termination equal trouble

03/29/2012
Here’s an important reminder for all supervisors: Innocent age-related comments can come back to haunt you. That’s especially true if the comments come from someone who has a direct say in hiring and firing decisions.