• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Employee Relations

State auditors investigating purchase-Card fraud

07/01/2007

Georgia Tech has fired an employee who rang up $25,000 in personal charges on a state purchasing card and failed
to repay it. The disturbing part is …

Punishing exempt worker who exceeds leave time

07/01/2007

Q. Can we deduct something from an exempt employee’s pay if he takes time off, comes in late or leaves early after he’s used up all of his leave time?

Scandal at the top rocks Sterling Financial Corp.

07/01/2007

Five employees of Equipment Finance LLC, a subsidiary of Sterling Finan-cial Corp. of Lancaster, concealed credit delinquencies and falsified financing contracts in a sophisticated loan scheme that will cost Sterling an estimated $150 million …

It’s the truth: no lie-detector tests

07/01/2007

Q. I want to know whether applicants have ever stolen from or been fired by a prior employer. Can I require them to take a lie-detector test?

Use discipline instead of docking pay

07/01/2007

Q. Can I dock an employee’s pay for failing to meet a production quota?

River Vale to pay $75,000 for mayor’s conduct

07/01/2007

The township of River Vale settled a lawsuit with Police Chief Aaron Back over harassment by former Mayor George Paschalis. Back testified that Paschalis repeatedly threatened to fire him …

Vague claims of illness not enough to trigger liability

07/01/2007

Employees should notify their employers before taking FMLA leave—30 days ahead if possible. In cases of emergencies or sudden illnesses, employees must let their employers know as soon as is practical. But that doesn’t mean calling in sick or providing a vague doctor’s note is enough …

How to prevent employees from abusing PTO leave

07/01/2007

A reader of our e-mail newsletter, HR Weekly, recently posed this question:  “We allow employees to take paid time off (PTO) in hourly increments, but they often use PTO when running late in the morning or for unexpected ‘appointments.’ How can we get a rein on our PTO leave?”

To be safe, always double-Check supervisor’s allegations

07/01/2007

When it comes to discharging an employee, be careful not to simply accept a supervisor’s opinion of the employee’s performance. If the supervisor is effectively hiding an underlying problem with persons belonging to a protected class and you don’t check for yourself whether the employee deserves to lose the job, you may end up costing the company money …

Court finds Wayne State responded adequately to harassment claims

07/01/2007

According to the U.S. District Court, Eastern District, Wayne State University appropriately handled sexual harassment complaints by an assistant director in the university’s Center for Chicano-Boricua Studies …