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Jonathan Hyman

Can we ask applicants to take a TB test?

03/24/2009

Q. We’re aware that tuberculosis is on the rise. Can we ask applicants—and employees—to take a TB test? What about interns and volunteers? (We operate a substance abuse center.)

Can we deduct hourly FMLA leave for exempt staff?

03/24/2009

Q. We have an exempt administrative employee who is on intermittent FMLA leave. She’s unable to work on Fridays for two or three hours due to a serious health condition. By policy, she must use any accrued sick leave when she is out sick, typically in whole-day increments. Can we charge her sick time in hourly intervals because she is utilizing FMLA intermittent leave even if we charge her in larger blocks when she is just plain sick?

Associational discrimination: How close is close enough?

03/06/2009

Last year, in Thompson v. North Am. Stainless, the 6th Circuit recognized a claim under Title VII’s anti-retaliation provision for associational retaliation: “Title VII prohibit[s] employers from taking retaliatory action against employees not directly involved in protected activity, but who are so closely related to or associated with” employees who engage in protected activity. I remain critical of this standard because it leaves open the issue of how close is close enough.

Can I ask my employees to use accrued leave to cover time spent on jury duty?

03/06/2009

Q. An employee just asked for a week off to attend jury duty. Do I have to grant the request for leave? If I do, can I require the employee to use accrued vacation time during the jury duty leave?

Must we pay overtime to telemarketers?

03/06/2009

Q. Historically, we do not pay overtime to our commissioned telemarketers. After all, they are paid strictly on commission, not by the hour. Some employees are now complaining that we are paying them illegally by not paying overtime for weeks in which they work more than 40 hours. Are they right?

What are the COBRA rules applying to small businesses in Ohio?

03/06/2009

Q. We are a small business, with only 12 full-time employees and a smattering of on-again, off-again part-timers. When an employee leaves, do we have to provide a COBRA notice?

Handbooks 101: 4 guidelines to follow, 5 policies to include

02/12/2009

Each year, new employment laws go on the books and courts write thousands upon thousands of decisions interpreting old laws. Yet, year after year, many HR professionals reach up onto a dusty shelf to hand new employees the same old employee handbook someone wrote years ago—too often without a second of consideration whether the contents still pass legal muster.

What are our legal options? It turns out, an employee who is suing us was a thief!

02/12/2009

Q. Our company is being sued by an employee for discrimination. During the lawsuit proceedings, we discovered that he had been stealing from us. Do we have any recourse?

Can we cut our legal risk by offering unconditional reinstatement?

02/12/2009

Q. If an employee is suing our company, what are the benefits of offering her job back while the litigation is ongoing?

Is it OK to pay hourly workers comp time instead of overtime?

02/12/2009

Q. Is it legal for my company to pay our hourly employees comp time instead of paying time-and-a-half for overtime worked?