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Employment Law

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

01/09/2009

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

01/09/2009

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?

DOL issues new FMLA poster: Get your free copy here

01/08/2009

The U.S. Department of Labor has issued a new FMLA poster to go along with the new FMLA rules that will take effect Jan. 16. Don’t waste budget dollars buying new posters from HR vendors. You can download the official version for free right here.

OSHA adds teeth to protective equipment standards

01/06/2009

The stakes just got higher for employers that fail to provide appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) or give employees the necessary safety training. For every PPE and training violation, multiply the OSHA fine by the number of employees affected.

Workers gone wild … and the legal lessons to be learned

01/06/2009

Employees do the darnedest things, and HR frequently winds up trying to undo the damage. One of the highlights of HR Specialist’s upcoming Labor and Employment Law Advanced Practices Symposium will be a session on “The Most Bizarre Recent Workplace Cases—and What You Can Learn from Them.” Here’s our take on the topic, with cases pulled from the pages of HR Specialist newsletters.

Promote civility, but watch for discrimination

01/05/2009

How much effort should the HR office put into getting everyone to get along? The best approach is to let employees handle most social conflicts among themselves—as long as there are no overt signs of discrimination.

2 government workers charged in online sex flap

01/05/2009

Christopher Johnson, academic advisor at Ohio State University’s School of Nursing, and Vanise Dunn, a child sex-abuse caseworker at Franklin County Children Services, were placed on administrative leave following criminal charges of participating in a prostitution ring.

Disabled former employees can’t recover benefits under ADA unless they seek rehire

01/05/2009

In a common-sense decision, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that former employees who are disabled cannot sue their former employers under the ADA to recover retirement benefits that were reduced because they received Social Security disability payments from the federal government.

Prepare to make clear-cut case before firing public employee working on contract

01/05/2009

Ohio public school employees who work under contracts for a set term have the right to keep working until the contract runs out, absent certain “extraordinary circumstances.” But school districts that show exactly why an employee should be fired … are on solid ground when it comes to a later lawsuit.

Accepting early retirement incentive may end lawsuit

01/05/2009

Employees who have pending lawsuits against their employers may be among a group of employees who receive early retirement offers that are part of downsizing initiatives. If litigious employees accept such a buyout offer, they may lose their standing in their lawsuits.