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Carl Crosby Lehmann

How should we respond to a ‘no-match’ letter?

08/10/2011
In April 2011, the Social Security Administration resumed the practice of sending no-match letters, which notify an employer of a discrepancy between information they reported on an employee’s W-2 form and information in the SSA’s database. The DOJ’s Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices recently issued the following “do’s and don’ts” regarding no-match letters:

What do we need to do to hire an H-1B immigrant currently working for another employer?

08/10/2011
Q. We are interested in hiring someone who is currently working for another company in H-1B status. Do we have to file a new H-1B application before this person can work for our company? If so, how long do we have to wait until he can start work?

Will we get in trouble for disciplining an employee for disparaging Facebook postings?

07/13/2011
Q. An employee has posted some very unflattering things about the company on her Facebook page. Is there anything we need to consider before taking disciplinary action against her?

Are we obligated to comply? Employee’s doctor ordered an ergonomic study

07/13/2011
Q. One of our employees tripped and fell at work. Days later, he came in with a doctor’s note ordering light-duty restrictions. The doctor’s note also ordered an “ergonomic workstation study” to be done by the employer. Is this something we are obligated to do?

Out of FMLA leave–and out of luck?

07/13/2011
Q. One of our employees has a recurring illness that flares up every so often. By taking a few weeks off here and there, he has used all of his paid time off (PTO) and exhausted his FMLA leave. If he has another flare-up, do we have to permit him to take time off even though it would be more than the FMLA requires or our policies allow?

Must we hold job for injured worker?

06/08/2011
Q. We have an employee who has been off work for more than 10 months because of a workers’ comp-covered injury. We have no idea when she may possibly be able to return to work. Are we absolutely required under the law to give this employee her job back whenever she believes she is ready to return to work, no matter how long she has been out?

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?

Without a noncompete agreement, can we stop a former employee from undercutting us?

06/08/2011
Q. We just had a successful salesperson quit his job and join one of our major competitors. We did not, unfortunately, have him sign either a noncompete agreement or a confidential information agreement. We are very concerned that he may have taken, and may be using, some of our company’s confidential business information, including detailed customer information. Is there anything we can do about this situation, given the absence of any written contract?

If we buy another company, are we also buying the union that represents its employees?

05/11/2011
Q. We’re considering buying another company in the same industry. That company has a unionized workforce, and our executives are concerned because they don’t want to deal with a union. Otherwise, though, they are positive about this possibility … If we buy this company, will we have to deal with the union?

How can we help get a union decertified?

05/11/2011
Q. A few employees have told me recently they are fed up with their union and would like to get rid of it. How can I help them? We’d be glad to get rid of the union, too.