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How to legally handle chronically late workers

05/27/2009

Employers expect employees to get to work on time. Occasional problems with traffic or family issues sometimes make employees late. But chronic tardiness is another thing altogether. While most employers track tardiness occurrences, they should do more. How?

Firing after FMLA leave: How soon is ‘too soon’?

05/27/2009

An employer fired a worker just six weeks after she returned from FMLA leave. Six weeks is like a nanosecond on the retaliation stopwatch. But the court still dismissed the case. Why?

Receive FMLA notice? Don’t assume ineligibility

05/27/2009

You need a clear policy on handling employees who call in sick. That helps ensure you don’t miss a potential FMLA request. Remember, employees don’t have to ask for FMLA leave by name.

Mandatory sick leave legislation introduced; HR groups fire back

05/19/2009

Congress is considering legislation that would require employers with 15 or more workers to provide seven days of paid sick leave per employee per year, an expansion of the FMLA that a coalition of HR and business groups immediately decried.

Pregnant employee? Make every effort to accommodate temporary restrictions

05/15/2009

Terminating a pregnant employee because she has minor medical restrictions can be very expensive. The move may mean you have to make the employee financially whole—plus pay a large punitive damage award and attorneys’ fees. Here’s the best way to handle temporary medical restrictions associated with pregnancy:

Law firm WARN Act suit gets class-action status

05/15/2009

A federal judge recently certified two classes of workers in a suit accusing the law firm Thelen, LLP, of firing them without notice. Also certified were three subclasses of workers alleging that the defunct law firm failed to compensate them for vacation time.

What should we do when caregiver leave overlaps with family leave?

05/15/2009

Q. One of our employees recently went on military caregiver leave to take care of her injured husband. She is also expected to give birth in the coming weeks. Is she entitled to 12 weeks of leave under the FMLA in addition to her 26 weeks of caregiver leave?

Firing Guard or Reserve member? Better show you would have taken action despite service

05/13/2009

Members of the military have greater on-the-job protection than many other employees—including the right to return to their former jobs following a period of active-duty service. They also have the right not to be terminated or otherwise punished for being part of the armed services and taking military leave.

You can discharge if there’s no way to tell when employee will return to work

05/13/2009

Employers don’t have to provide a disabled employee with an indefinite leave of absence when the employee has a medical emergency and doesn’t know how long it will take to return. As long as the employee isn’t covered by the FMLA (in which case, she is entitled to 12 unpaid weeks of leave), you can terminate the employee without violating the ADA.

Reassignment to new location may not violate FMLA

05/13/2009

Employees who take FMLA leave are entitled to their former jobs or equivalent ones when they return to work. But sometimes employers that operate many locations move employees around to cover for the employee on FMLA leave. They may not want to move those employees again. Can the returning employee be assigned to another location?