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Jonathan Hyman

No bonuses this year: Do we need to give notice?

12/01/2010
Q. Our employees have come to expect a holiday bonus every December. We need to end that practice this year due to the economy. Are we legally obligated to give some kind of notice?

Bonus for exempt workers: What’s the best way?

11/25/2010
Q. Everyone has been working extra hard this year, especially our exempt salaried employees. We want to reward them with extra pay. Can we pay them overtime if they put in more than, say, 50 hours in a week? Or is it better to offer a one-time bonus? I don’t want to affect their exempt status.

Disability-related injury: Covered by workers’ comp?

11/19/2010
Q. Are employers liable if an employee is hurt on the job as a result of his or her own disability? For example, what happens if an employee with a heart condition has a heart attack? Is the employee entitled to workers’ comp because it happened at work? Or could we be liable because we allowed the employee to work?

Furlough days: Eligible for unemployment?

11/11/2010
Q. Due to budget problems, we plan to furlough our employees for one day per month. Some have asked whether they can collect partial unemployment comp. What should I tell them?

Must we accommodate a ‘breathing machine’?

11/04/2010
Q. We provide janitorial services to local companies. We just learned that one of our employees is asthmatic. She missed several days because of her asthma. Now she wants to return, but she needs to keep a breathing machine with her. What can we do? We aren’t sure our customers will accommodate that need.

Worker in car accident during break: Are you liable?

11/02/2010
Q. Our company lets employees take two 15-minute paid breaks during their eight-hour shifts. One employee usually leaves the premises during her break and drives to a convenience store. If she were involved in a car accident on the way, would the company have any liability since she is still on the clock?

No holiday pay for exempt staff in first 90 days?

10/29/2010
Q. Our company has a 90-day probationary period that employees must complete before they’re eligible for holiday pay. We’ve always made salaried exempt employees meet this requirement, too. So if a holiday occurs during their first 90 days, we only pay them for the days worked that week. Is this legal?

What’s our ADA liability if an employee never informed us he needed accommodation?

10/12/2010
Q. An employee recently resigned from our company. In his resignation letter, he told us that he was disappointed that we were unable to accommodate his sleep apnea … However, he never told us until he resigned that he suffered from any medical condition, including sleep apnea. How are we supposed to accommodate a medical condition that we don’t know about?

What should we do when an employee provides conflicting FMLA certification notes?

10/12/2010
Q. An employee seeking FMLA leave presented medical certification from her doctor that stated that her medical condition didn’t prevent her from performing the essential functions of her job. A few days later, she presented a second form that stated the opposite. Can we hold her to the first certification, or do we have to accept the second form and grant FMLA leave?

Across the table: 10 tips to help you prepare for a deposition

10/11/2010
A deposition may feel like a simple conversation between the parties in a lawsuit, but it isn’t. It’s a tool used by a highly skilled practitioner to lock-in your side of the story, build his or her case and evaluate you as a trial witness. Here are the top 10 things to think about as you prepare to give testimony in a deposition.