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Employment Law

Military Family Leave: New employee rights under the FMLA

09/02/2008
On Jan. 28, 2008, President Bush signed into law H.R. 4986, the National Defense Authorization Act, which grants new leave rights to employees with family members in the military. Because the NDAA amended the FMLA—not USERRA—the changes apply only to employers with 50 or more employees …

Should we have laid-Off employees sign releases?

09/02/2008
Q. Business has been slow and it doesn’t seem likely it will pickup in the foreseeable future. We’re going to have to let some employees go. I’ve heard some employers in our situation ask employees to sign agreements releasing the company from future employment-related claims. Should we get releases from the employees when we terminate them?

Handling layoffs with workers’ comp claims pending

09/02/2008
Q. We need to lay off an entire shift at our assembly plant. A few of these workers are off work or on temporary light-duty jobs as a result of on-the-job injuries. They have workers’ comp claims pending. If we lay off the entire shift, can we lay off the injured workers as well? …

Can I use several criteria for whom to lay off?

09/02/2008

Q. I need to lay off some staff. I was going to select some based on the fact that they were the most recently hired. I was also going to select others who were hired earlier, retaining some who were hired in between the two groups. Is that permitted? …

What managers need to know about the ADA

09/01/2008
When you’re faced with an employee or applicant who may have a physical or mental disability, your legal antenna should go up right away. That’s because the complex Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) gives qualified disabled people special rights in the workplace. Here’s what a manager needs to know about the ADA: Who is protected? […]

Beware referral programs that attract new hire ‘clones’

08/28/2008
Your employee referral program could backfire if it leads to too many employees who are alike in terms of sex, race, age or other protected characteristics. Follow these tips to strengthen and diversify your referral program.

Take proactive steps to ensure harassment doesn’t escalate

08/27/2008
Be sure to take it seriously when employees come forward with sexual harassment complaints. Ignoring their complaints could embolden the harassers. To prevent such an unnecessary escalation, make sure you visit the work site and talk to everyone. Check for telltale signs of harassment, such as offensive posters or jokes on bulletin boards …

Differing male and female grooming standards may signal opening for religious accommodation

08/27/2008
Some religions prohibit men from cutting their hair. That can conflict with company grooming standards that set different limits on how long male and female employees may wear their hair. Generally, courts allow such differences … Even so, a man whose religion says he cannot cut his hair may have a religious discrimination case.

Act fast to stop co-Worker harassment

08/27/2008
The key to winning co-worker harassment cases is to show that you took swift, just and effective action as soon as you learned about the harassment. The following case proves that’s a winning strategy …

Pittsburgh scientist says government axed him for speaking his mind

08/27/2008
Abdel Moniem Ali El-Ganayni, a nuclear physicist, has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), claiming it revoked his security clearance and fired him because of his ethnicity, his Muslim faith and his criticism of the war in Iraq …