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Employment Law

Are we on the hook for seasonal employees’ unemployment compensation claims?

11/25/2009

Q. If our company hires seasonal employees for the holidays and then releases them after the Christmas rush, will we be responsible for any unemployment insurance claims as the workers’ last employer?

OK to label attendance an essential function

11/24/2009

It seems logical—employees who can’t come to work won’t be able to perform the essential functions of their jobs. It may be possible to accommodate some disabled employees by letting them work from home, but that’s not true of most jobs.

Calm is key when handling chronic complainers

11/24/2009

Some employees are natural complainers. They can and will find something to gripe about, no matter what. If one of your employees fits that mold and files incessant EEOC or internal complaints, how you handle those can mean the difference between a mildly annoying pain in the neck and a lost lawsuit. How? Chances are, chronic complainers won’t be able to make a solid case that they’ve suffered discrimination. But if you decide to punish her, she may have a retaliation lawsuit.

Terminated employee claims discrimination? Warn managers against any sort of retaliation

11/24/2009

Some managers and supervisors can’t leave well enough alone after they terminate an employee. When the former employee files a lawsuit, they try to find a way to strike back. That can be a disaster! That’s why you must make sure bosses understand the consequences that may flow from a single act of vengeance or anger.

Questions and answers about H1N1 flu and wage-and-hour laws

11/24/2009

If H1N1 flu threatens to shut down businesses nationwide, employers are going to need contingency plans to make sure they keep running. Flexible work schedules, temporary shutdowns and telework can all help—but all have unexpected wage-and-hour implications. Here’s guidance from the Department of Labor on how to handle these tricky issues.

Your ‘good faith’ goes a long way toward fair religious accommodations

11/24/2009

As the workforce grows more diverse, so do the religious practices that employers may be asked to accommodate.
Consider a policy that clearly sets out how to request time off for religious practices, and establish a mechanism for deciding who gets priority. It may not be possible for everyone to get their desired time off, but as long as you don’t discriminate against a particular religion, reasonable limits are likely to stand up in court.

Firing a long-time employee? Good documentation beats age bias claim

11/24/2009

Employees who have worked for their employers for decades often assume that if they are fired, it must be because of their advancing age. Then they sue, alleging age discrimination. Because they have been employed for so long, they usually don’t have any trouble showing that they were qualified for their job. That puts the burden on employers to prove they had a sound reason for the termination.

Frivolous case filed too late? Too bad

11/24/2009

Judges generally bend over backward to give leeway to employees who represent themselves in court. But now some judges have begun showing more sympathy to the plight of employers that have to defend against those lawsuits—which often turn out to be frivolous.

Limping employee not ensured NJLAD protection

11/24/2009

You know that you can run into trouble if you treat someone as disabled when they are not. But you’re not in violation of the “perceiving as disabled” provisions of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD) every time you notice an employee has a physical problem.

Just kidding about the robbery! No kidding about the lawsuit

11/24/2009

Pharmacy technician Babette Perry was terrified when an armed man burst into her work area demanding OxyContin and telling her he had taken one of her co-workers hostage. She later learned that the entire episode was a training exercise staged by the private psychiatric facility. She’s now suing …