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Compensation & Benefits

What’s the new Illinois minimum wage?

10/12/2010
Q. We’re looking to hire a few new workers. What is the least amount we need to pay them?

How will the new Illinois Family Military Leave Act amendment affect us?

10/12/2010
Q. How does the recent amendment to the Illinois Family Military Leave Act affect employers?

Remember: You must consider chronic conditions when employees request FMLA leave

10/12/2010
Employers sometimes mistakenly focus only on the FMLA provision that defines a serious health condition as one that incapacitates an employee for three calendar days or more. Don’t focus solely on illnesses of three days’ duration. If the employee has a brief flare-up of an underlying condition that has been treated in the past, he may be eligible for FMLA leave.

Feel free to set generous FMLA notice terms, but rely on the law if you wind up in court

10/12/2010
Some employers cut more slack than the FMLA requires when employees fail to give timely notice that they want to take FMLA leave. The company typically might send an employee a letter informing her that, since she didn’t show up for her last scheduled shift or offered an explanation, she has five days to return or explain why she can’t work. If the reason is one covered by the FMLA, she may already have lost the right to claim FMLA leave.

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?

Hyundai Ideal Electric faces pay bias suit

10/08/2010

The EEOC has filed suit against Hyundai Ideal Electric in Mansfield for allegedly firing a woman in retaliation for complaining about a pay disparity. Tabitha Wagner, a drafter, complained that she earned less than a similarly situated male drafter with less seniority. In the suit, Wagner claims she complained to HR Manager Jon Shearer on Nov. 11, 2008. Shearer terminated her the next day.

FMLA: What to do when worker refuses OT

10/08/2010
Some employees don’t like being told they have to put in OT, especially if they have medical conditions that make it difficult to work extended hours. However, you are within your rights to insist on overtime. Employees with a serious health condition that precludes working extra hours may have to go on intermittent FMLA leave.

Adult children and health insurance: Know the new law’s intricacies

10/07/2010
The new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act significantly changes the health care landscape for many employers. Some aspects of the law took effect in September 2010. Most significantly, employees’ children are eligible for coverage until age 26. The new coverage requirement affects all plans renewing on or after Sept. 23, 2010.

Check time records when employee claims work injury

10/07/2010

Employers are responsible when their employees suffer injuries at work. But what about injuries that happen before the employee clocks in? A federal court has ruled under some circumstances, the employee isn’t eligible for disability benefits.

N.Y. court refuses to apply Ledbetter Act to pay disparities because of missed promotions

10/07/2010

When Congress passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, it sought to guarantee women who had been denied equal pay in the past fresh opportunities to challenge their lower pay with each paycheck issued. Now a woman alleging sexual harassment and retaliation has tried to use that act to revive old claims relating to promotions. Her bid to expand the law in court failed.