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Compensation & Benefits

Watch out! Firing employee who needs maternity leave may be sex discrimination

04/07/2009

It’s time to check your policy on maternity leave. An Ohio appeals court has ruled that it may be discrimination if you don’t provide maternity leave to employees who don’t qualify for your usual leave plan because they haven’t been on the job long enough.

When employee returns from FMLA leave, ensure position is truly equivalent to former job

04/07/2009

Employees who return from FMLA-covered maternity leave are supposed to come back to the same or a substantially equivalent position. Don’t make the mistake of offering a position that has the same title and pay, but which involves very different duties. That’s especially true if those duties are more onerous for a new mother.

Furloughs and unpaid time off create wage-and-hour problems

04/07/2009

Family-friendly practices have suddenly taken a back seat as struggling businesses focus on the bottom line. Now employers are looking for other ways to give employees time off, albeit involuntarily. But when employers impose furloughs, forced shutdowns and reduced work schedules on exempt salaried employees in increments of other than a full week, it can jeopardize exemptions under the FLSA.

Can we dock a worker for not wearing a company shirt?

04/07/2009

Q. I own a construction company. We require all employees to wear a company shirt. If an employee does not wear a company shirt, he or she is assessed a $25 per day penalty, which is deducted from the next paycheck. Is this penalty legal?

Dropping your 401(k) match? Watch employees drop the plan

04/07/2009

Suspending contributions to employees’ retirement accounts can immediately save an organization some cash. As the recession wears on, more businesses are looking at that option. Still, few are actually taking this step, and the ones that are have said it is temporary.

Public employees must choose: Sue agency or boss, not both

04/07/2009

Here’s a bit of good news for managers and supervisors who work for Ohio public employers. Employees who decide to sue a government agency through the state Court of Claims lose the right to sue their supervisors directly and personally.

Must we pay workers’ weekend travel time to new location?

04/07/2009

Q. We are closing one facility and laying off a large number of workers. In lieu of immediate layoffs, however, we want to temporarily transfer some maintenance employees from another facility 800 miles away. They have agreed to perform this work, which will take about three months. Do we have to pay them for the time spent traveling to the new work location, which will occur over a weekend?

After the fact, employee can’t claim illness caused absence

04/02/2009

Sometimes, employees hesitate to tell supervisors about their medical problems, especially if they feel there’s a stigma associated with the condition. But if the employee misses work and is fired, she can’t use the medical excuse to get unemployment compensation benefits.

Remind employees: FMLA doesn’t promise reinstatement if leave extends beyond 12 weeks

04/02/2009

If you provide more than 12 weeks of disability leave, make sure that your employee handbook and policies spell out that employees may lose the right to return to their previous positions if they exceed the 12 weeks of unpaid leave guaranteed by the FMLA.

Juggling vacation, military and family leave under new FMLA regs

04/02/2009

The FMLA now requires employers to give employees serving in the military (or who are next of kin to service members) up to 26 weeks of unpaid leave under specific conditions. While few employers begrudge military families such leave, unforeseen leave can pose scheduling problems as employers come into the summer vacation season.