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

Employment Law

Will we violate the ADA if we enforce our legitimate lifting restriction?

11/10/2008

Q. Our restaurant has a written requirement that waiters be able to lift, transport and carry objects weighing from 25 to 30 pounds up to 20 or more times per shift. An applicant for a server job has informed us on his application that he has a condition that prevents him from lifting more than 10 pounds and that there are no accommodations that could be made so he can perform all of the job duties. Are we going to be in violation of the ADA if we deny a job to this applicant?

Call security! But don’t micromanage them

11/07/2008

If you hire a security company to help keep your workplace safe for customers and employees, make sure your supervisors don’t wind up providing specific direction to the guards the company assigns to your company. If you and your staff resist the temptation to control their every move and give them just general instructions, the security company and its guards remain independent contractors. That’s important for liability reasons.

Track all discipline to show unbiased process

11/07/2008

The key to a sound discipline policy is equal treatment for all who commit similar offenses. You can’t decide to treat some employees more leniently than others without very good reason. And you’d better nail down that reason at the time you make the decision—not months or years later, after another employee has sued.

Suit: Times Square waitresses had to serve more than drinks

11/07/2008

Four women who once worked at Hawaiian Tropic Zone—the Times Square restaurant that The Gothamist says “makes Hooters look like Chuck E. Cheese”—have filed a $600 million lawsuit claiming supervisors forced female employees to have sex.

Make it there, make it anywhere: Don’t let NYC’s tough bias rules beat you

11/07/2008

If you have employees or operations in New York City, your sexual harassment and discrimination policies must reflect the strict rules employers are required to follow under the New York City Human Rights Law. It all adds up to a challenging HR environment. Your best bet in New York City—adopt a zero-tolerance policy for any sort of sexual, racial or other harassment.

Stop class-action train wrecks! Let local offices set salaries and raises

11/07/2008

The worst-case scenario for a large company with operations in many locations: A class-action lawsuit alleging discrimination against an entire class of employees. One way to discourage such massive lawsuits is to let managers at separate locations keep substantial control over setting salaries and raises.

Missed lunch invitations, cramped office aren’t enough to warrant lawsuit

11/07/2008

Sometimes, you find out pretty quickly that someone you hired isn’t going to work out. While the final decision to terminate may take some time, many supervisors naturally start giving the cold shoulder to bad hires. Such a blow-off may be crass, but it’s not the kind of behavior that commonly puts an employer on the losing end of a lawsuit.

Firing justified if applicant failed to reveal checkered past

11/07/2008

Sometimes, candidates filling out job applications think it’s a good idea to omit information about minor criminal convictions and past problems such as terminations. If your application specifically asks for that information and someone you hired didn’t supply it, you can terminate for lying on the application.

Employer not liable for worker’s injury caused by co-workers

11/07/2008

In most circumstances, employers aren’t going to be held directly responsible if an employee suffers a physical injury because of something a fellow employee did. Instead, such cases are handled through the workers’ compensation system.

Was color an issue in search for ‘Abercrombie look’?

11/07/2008

Dulzia Burchette, a black former saleswoman for Abercrombie & Fitch, is suing the company, claiming racial discrimination and harassment. Burchette says she was harassed when she came to work at the company’s Fifth Avenue store with blonde highlights in her hair.