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Employment Law

Can we require employees to use accrued paid leave instead of FMLA leave?

05/24/2010
Q. One of our supervisors needs time off to undergo medical treatment. Instead of FMLA leave, may we require him to use accrued vacation for the time he will miss?

What should we do? We’ve heard rumors that some employees are downloading porn at work

05/24/2010
Q. All of our employees have Internet access at work. We have heard rumors that several employees have been logging onto pornographic and other inappropriate sites, and have been displaying or disseminating objectionable material to others in the workplace. Even though we have not received a formal complaint, do we have an obligation to address this now?

Mandatory employment arbitration agreements in California

05/24/2010
The California Supreme Court has issued a decision providing useful clarification to employers that want to revise or enforce existing mandatory arbitration agreements.

Duplicate systems led to OT shortages, university worker says

05/24/2010

An enrollment counselor is suing the online University of Phoenix for unpaid overtime, and wants to expand her lawsuit to include everyone else who worked as enrollment counselors in California over the past three years. Diane Adoma claims the university deliberately underpaid for overtime hours.

Health Net heads to court to fight wage-and-hour lawsuit

05/24/2010
A former customer service rep at Health Net Inc., a nationwide health maintenance organization based in Woodland Hills, is suing the company for requiring off-the-clock work … and she’s trying to turn the Fair Labor Standards Act suit into a class action that could involve hundreds of workers.

Employer isn’t responsible if it doesn’t know of retaliation

05/24/2010

Employees sometimes get angry if they’re implicated when a co-worker complains about alleged discrimination. They may retaliate by ostracizing the complainer. But that’s not enough to hold the company liable for retaliation—as long as it never knew about the problem.

Isolated offensive words don’t always mean hostile workplace

05/24/2010
Some employees think that any negative comment that touches on race or nationality means they have a hostile work environment case. That’s just not true, especially when there’s no evidence that the work environment hurt the employee’s ability to perform her job.

If worker on RIF list has sought reasonable accommodations, be prepared to justify

05/24/2010

Watch out! If you’re contemplating reducing your workforce in order to survive today’s harsh economic climate, you need to prepare for potential litigation. To do that, make sure you carefully document why you are making the reductions. That’s especially critical if you have been negotiating reasonable accommodations for a disabled employee who may be on your RIF list.

You don’t carry workers’ comp insurance? Prepare to face negligence lawsuits

05/24/2010

The workers’ compensation insurance system is based on the premise that employees hurt at work will recover lost wages without having to prove who was at fault for an injury. Employers that don’t carry workers’ comp insurance may be sued directly for negligence—and that means injured workers could win far higher awards for damages.

Walmart must defend against largest wage-and-hour class action in U.S. history

05/24/2010

Recently, the largest class-action lawsuit in U.S. history was given the go-ahead. Employers nationwide are waiting with bated breath to find out what happens to Walmart. While the exact number of employees who may find themselves part of the lawsuit is still unclear, it could reach well over 1 million women employed or formerly employed at 3,400 Walmart stores across the country.