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Compensation & Benefits

Giving a bonus can cost you in discrimination case

10/01/2001
Lisa Russell was rated “excellent” and received a bonus of $807. So what’s her gripe? An African-American co-worker received a higher rating of “outstanding” and a bonus of $1,355. Russell, who …

Sweeten Deal to Retain Worker After Training

10/01/2001

Q. We just covered the entire cost for an employee to complete nurses’ aide training. We intended to draw up an agreement before the training so that this employee would be available to our business for six months before she could seek other employment, but we failed to discuss the agreement before the training. Can we have her sign such an agreement now? —C.E., Ohio

EEOC rewriting rules on retiree health benefits

10/01/2001
The U.S. Equal Employment Oppor-tunity Commission (EEOC) is taking a fresh look at age discrimination in retiree health benefit plans. The commission rescinded its policy that had said employer plans …

Parent may take FMLA leave to care for grown children

10/01/2001
Gladys Navarro asked her employer, Pfizer Corp., for Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave because she wanted to take care of her adult daughter who was ordered to bed rest …

An honest mistake won’t sink you

10/01/2001
After receiving a phone message that her father had suffered a heart attack, Vickie Medley told her boss that she was leaving Denver immediately to drive to Nebraska. Over the next …

Don’t set automatic deadline for workers returning from disability leave.

10/01/2001
Make sure your medical leave policy doesn’t automatically terminate employees after a certain number of days. Blood Systems Inc. recently agreed to pay 23 employees a total of $650,000 after the …

You Can Restrict Use of Personal Days

10/01/2001

Q. If a company provides both personal and vacation days for its employees and does not define what a personal day is, can that be used for anything outside of vacation time? —E.H., Utah

Lack of time records voids exemption argument

10/01/2001
No matter how long it took Tracy Klinedinst to paint a car, he was paid based on a standard industry estimate used by auto repair shops and insurance adjusters. While his …

Beware of sick leave policies that allow pay reduction of exempt

10/01/2001
To protect employee exemptions from overtime, make sure your sick leave policy defines which classifications would not be subject to pay deductions. In 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court said employees …

… and they’re planning to leave

10/01/2001
In a separate survey by Walker Information, only 24 percent of workers say they are committed to their employer and plan to stay for the next two years. The Indiana-based …