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Can we insist that doctors’ notes include a diagnosis of an employee’s medical condition?

09/20/2012

Q. May we ask for a diagnosis when an employee ­requests a few days of sick leave? Or must we ­accept any doctor’s note without any explanation?

Can we legally cap paid sick leave?

08/23/2012

Q. One of our managers has medical problems and has used a significant amount of paid sick leave. Because we don’t have a defined sick pay policy, this manager uses paid sick time whenever she’s out (full day or half day). How can we legally cap this? Is developing a policy with specific hours our only alternative?

Philadelphia issues regs on mandatory paid sick leave

08/23/2012
Philadelphia employers that do business with the city had to begin providing paid sick leave to their employees on July 1, when new provisions of the city’s “21st Century Minimum Wage Standard” went into effect.

Track discipline in a way that allows easy recall

08/23/2012
You will never know which employee will sue or for what reason. That’s a good reason to carefully track all discipline and make the records easy to access.

When the school bell rings, do some employees go missing?

08/09/2012

The beginning of the school year can be fraught with stress and tension for kids and their parents, too. Result: less productive and often absent employees. Reminder: The federal FMLA doesn’t cover employees who take time off for school visits or to care for kids who aren’t seriously ill but who must stay home from school. Some state laws do.

State-by-state 2012 short-term child-care leave laws

07/14/2012

The federal FMLA doesn’t cover employees who take time off for school visits or to care for kids who aren’t seriously ill but who must stay home from school. Some state laws do. The chart below summarizes state short-term leave laws.

8 flex trends that will affect your company

06/18/2012

As more organizations allow em­­ployees to adjust their schedules and telework, it puts pressure on other employers to offer the same flexibility—or lose out when it comes to recruiting and retaining quality workers. A recent study of employers’ workplace flexibiliity practices uncovered eight trends you need to understand.

Think employee is committing leave fraud? Feel free to discipline–and document why

06/04/2012
If you suspect an employee is abusing your generous sick and disability leave benefits, consider cracking down on fraud. As long as you can document that you made a good-faith decision to punish leave abuse, a court won’t second-guess your actions.

What recourse do we have if employee repeatedly misses work on Mondays?

05/24/2012
Q. How can we handle an employee who routinely uses vacation and sick time on Mondays?

What should we do if we suspect employee is engaged in workers’ comp fraud?

05/24/2012

Q. While on unpaid leave, one of our employees applied for and was granted workers’ compensation. This person has not expressed any interest in returning to work. We think she may even be working somewhere else. Can we terminate her?