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Employment Law

FMLA and termination for failing to submit certification

06/11/2008
Q. Our company has an employee who has taken FMLA leave to care for his sick child. His attendance record has been poor, but we have not documented our warnings as well as we should have. Our company has a rule that an employee has 15 days to have the treating doctor sign and return a form certifying the medical condition of the family member who is sick. We never received the signed form. The employee says that his doctor sent it. Can we terminate the employee? …

Minnesota Supreme Court clarifies employer penalties

06/10/2008
The Supreme Court of Minnesota has issued a decision clarifying penalties under the Minnesota Fair Labor Standards Act (MFLSA). The ruling makes it clear that employers that don’t follow the law and don’t maintain the required wage-and-hour records may face large fines payable to the state …

Little things can add up to discrimination and harassment

06/10/2008
Do your managers and supervisors understand that ostracizing an employee can backfire? Do they make diligent efforts to train everyone equally and include everyone in work-related social events? If not, it’s time to remind them …

Is that harassment—Or just a personality clash?

06/10/2008
When an employee complains about alleged discrimination or harassment by a supervisor, take a careful look at what each person says is happening. As the following case shows, sometimes just a poor working relationship—not discrimination—is the source of the problem …

When worker complains, find out if she’s a ‘Serial sue-er’

06/10/2008
Sometimes, you can tell how seriously to take an EEOC or other discrimination complaint by checking to see if the employee (or applicant) has filed other discrimination lawsuits in the past. If the complaint turns into a court case, an employee’s pattern of frivolous litigation may become powerful evidence a judge or jury will want to consider …

No unjust enrichment claims allowed in state and federal FLSA cases

06/10/2008
Sometimes, attorneys representing disgruntled employees will try anything to make the charges stick. Now the federal district court in Minnesota has ruled that plaintiffs can’t add state unjust enrichment claims to standard overtime claims under the federal FLSA and Minnesota’s similar state law …

Sometimes settling a claim is the smartest thing to do

06/10/2008
Have you considered settling a claim instead of fighting it tooth and nail? Sometimes, that’s the smartest course of action—even if you believe your company didn’t do anything wrong. If you do decide to settle, make sure you ask your attorney to ensure that the terms and conditions are airtight …

DOCC not responsible for employees’ racist remarks

06/10/2008
A court has ruled that the Hennepin County Department of Community Corrections (DOCC) did more than enough to address two employees’ complaints about civil rights violations …

Identity theft and liability: How to reduce the risks facing your business

06/10/2008
How safe is the confidential customer information your company keeps? The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse says that, since February 2005, the personal information of 88 million people has been compromised by data security breaches at companies or government agencies …

E-Mail policies and the NLRA

06/10/2008
Q. I work in the HR department of a unionized company, and our CEO wants me to draw up an employee e-mail use policy. Can I restrict personal e-mail use without violating the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)? …