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Employment Law

As economy falls, résumé fraud and in-house theft rise

12/18/2008

Raise your skepticism level a few notches—and tell supervisors to do the same. Experts say the sinking economy is leading to desperation from both employees and applicants.

Obama to inherit dispute over SSN ‘no match’ letters

12/18/2008

How should employers respond to a government “no-match letter” that identifies discrepancies between an employee’s name and the Social Security number provided for I-9 purposes? The Department of Homeland Security tried to clarify that issue last year with new regulations, but a lawsuit held it up.

When does ‘I quit’ mean ‘Help, I’m disabled’?

12/18/2008

If you know an employee is suffering from depression, don’t be so quick to accept his or her hasty resignation, a new court ruling shows. Instead, you may need to identify this person as “disabled” under the ADA and, therefore, engage in an interactive process to find a work accommodation.

Must we pay for short smoking breaks?

12/18/2008

Q. Would a brief clock-out (initiated by the employee) of less than 20 minutes, such as an impromptu smoking break or personal phone call break, need to be paid as work time? The company accepts such impromptu clock-out breaks without prior supervisor approval.

Do we have to pay health insurance opt-out bonus during FMLA leave?

12/18/2008

Q. Our company offers a health insurance opt-out incentive, paying employees $400 a month if they use their spouses’ insurance plans. We now have an employee going out on FMLA maternity leave. Do we have to keep paying her $400 per month?

Can employees plead the Fifth Amendment during an investigative interview?

12/18/2008

Q. Our company recently discovered some theft in our operation. We called an employee in for an investigative interview. He claimed to have consulted with an attorney and refused to answer our questions on the grounds that he could not be forced to incriminate himself under the Fifth Amendment. What are our choices?

Can we deduct personal leave for exempt worker’s partial-day absence?

12/18/2008

Q. Some of our supervisors make their exempt employees take personal or sick leave for every minute they miss from work, even if they work a regular schedule the rest of the week. Can we safely do that?

Are you a target for union organizing? 6 questions to ask

12/16/2008

With the Employee Free Choice Act on the Congressional front-burner, organized labor is poised for rapid expansion. Now is the time to audit your vulnerability to union organizing. How can you tell if workers might be eager to become union members? Ask yourself these questions.

No charges, but woman loses 2 jobs after bridge collapse

12/15/2008

Ramsey County prosecutors declined to file felony theft charges against Sonia Pitt, former director of homeland security and emergency management at the Minnesota Department of Transportation, finding her conduct in the wake of the deadly I-35W bridge collapse objectionable, but not criminal.

Unfair labor charges

12/15/2008

Q. Our employee relations manager received a charge of an unfair labor practice (ULP) filed by the union with the National Labor Relations Board. In the ULP charge, the union alleges that when the secretary for our attorneys contacted a former employee—who had been discharged for misconduct—to schedule his deposition in his unemployment compensation proceeding, our company engaged in coercive interrogation in violation of the National Labor Relations Act and the Johnnie’s Poultry standard. There were no unfair labor practice proceedings pending before we received this ULP charge. What is Johnnie’s Poultry, and how is scheduling a deposition in a proceeding about a former employee’s unemployment compensation claim an unlawful labor practice?