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Employment Law

Requiring fees from applicants

06/03/2008
Q. We have a problem with applicants who pass the pre-hiring process but then decide for some reason that they don’t want the job after all. By the time we learn this, we have already spent time and money on drug tests and orientation, and turned down other applicants. Can we require applicants to submit fees to apply, which we will refund if we don’t hire them, or if they remain employed for a minimum period of time? …

Dealing with a fired employee who signed an arbitration agreement

06/03/2008
Q. All of our applicants sign an arbitration agreement. Recently, for the first time, an employee we fired (he had signed the agreement) had a lawyer send us a letter complaining about his termination. Can we use the agreement to prevent the employee from filing a claim for unemployment benefits or a charge of discrimination? …

Branch offices and FMLA leave

06/03/2008
Q. Our company has about 75 employees scattered throughout 10 offices in the state, with a maximum of 10 in any one office. One of our employees has requested FMLA leave for a serious health condition. Do we have to provide it? …

Harassing Our Vets at Work: Unpatriotic for Sure, But Is It Illegal?

06/03/2008
A federal court has ruled that employees who believe their employers harass them because of their military status may file complaints under USERRA. The harassment angle breaks new legal ground. As more veterans return home from active duty, will it open the litigation floodgates?

Be sure to coordinate with FMLA administrator before firing

05/30/2008
If you outsource to another company to administer your FMLA process, work closely with it to ensure you aren’t firing an employee who has been approved for FMLA leave. Instead, make it standard practice to double-check FMLA status before taking any employment action …

Training tests may provide important screening opportunities

05/30/2008
Do your new hires have to complete a comprehensive training and testing program before they’re allowed to start work? If you can show your tests are valid and necessary (and they don’t disproportionately screen out any particular protected class), chances are a new employee who alleges discrimination because you didn’t keep him won’t get far with a lawsuit …

Any deviation from company rules may arouse suspicion

05/30/2008
When it comes to discrimination lawsuits, the earlier they are dismissed, the better. That’s one reason you don’t want to give a judge any incentive to send a case to a jury. Of course, deviating from your own company rules is one of those things that often leads judges to order a jury trial …

Instruct supervisors to prohibit working off the clock

05/30/2008
A Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime claim is one of the most dangerous lawsuits employers can face. If one or two employees claim they worked off the clock before or after punching the time clock, their attorneys may try to represent every employee companywide who did the same thing …

Public employers, take note: Some employee speech may be protected

05/30/2008
Public employees have some rights that other employees may not. One of those is the right to speak out on matters of public importance without being punished. But that right isn’t available to employees performing their official duties …

Don’t think federal laws always trump state claims

05/30/2008
A recent 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decision makes one thing clear: Employees and their lawyers are always looking for novel ways to sue employers—and sometimes state law gives them additional ways to do just that …