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Employment Law

BJ’s warehouse store settles $100K discrimination suit

05/12/2008
BJ’s Wholesale Club will pay $100,000 to settle an EEOC lawsuit. The manager of the company’s Homestead store, who is Cuban-American, allegedly subjected a black employee and a Puerto Rican employee to numerous racial slurs …

Here’s a tip: Know law on paying employees who work for tips

05/12/2008
Hundreds of thousands of Floridians rely on tips for part of their incomes. To stay on the right side of wage-and-hour laws, their employers need to understand the somewhat tricky interplay of tip income and the minimum wage …

Don’t consider pending lawsuits when making hiring decisions

05/09/2008
Don’t bar former employees who have sued the company from applying and being hired for new jobs. Doing so almost certainly invites a retaliation lawsuit—one that courts are likely to find in favor of the former employee.

Three-Day FMLA incapacity can span regular days off

05/09/2008
Employees who claim they qualify for FMLA leave because of a short illness have to show that they went to a doctor and were incapacitated for three days. But the three days don’t have to be workdays—they can include days off …

Sexist remarks plus denied opportunities can add up to a hostile environment

05/09/2008
Supervisors may subject their employers to hostile-environment liability if they make snide comments that can be interpreted as anti-female and then deny even minor opportunities for a woman to do the job she was hired to perform. It’s a case of many small indignities adding up to sex discrimination …

SEIU accused of attack at Dearborn conference

05/09/2008
Officials of the California Nurses Association (CNA) have sought a restraining order against members of rival Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in the wake of an attack at a labor conference in Dearborn in April …

Noose in the news

05/09/2008
The manager and two employees of a Bay City Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon were fired after allegedly hanging a noose in view of a black cook. The employees reportedly let the noose hang for four days before taking it down …

MIOSHA appeal process: What to expect after receiving a citation

05/09/2008
Two Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth agencies can issue safety citations under Michigan’s Occupational Safety and Health Act: the General Industry Division and the Construction Safety Division. Employers wishing to appeal a MIOSHA citation must follow a two-step appeal procedure …

Enforce overtime approval policies—But pay for all hours worked

05/09/2008

Q. Our company policy requires an employee’s supervisor to approve all overtime. However it’s common for employees to work overtime that has not been approved; time they then record on their time sheets. Since the overtime was never approved, our management takes the position that it does not need to pay for this overtime. My understanding is that all hours worked must be paid. Which is correct? …

MIOSHA can’t cite company again pending appeal of original citation

05/09/2008
Q. Our company has been cited by the Department of Labor for what it considers to be a violation of a MIOSHA safety standard. We are appealing the citation, which we understand could take months or even a year or more to be resolved. Our citation contains an abatement date, but we don’t think we have to make the changes suggested because we still believe there was no violation of the standard. Can MIOSHA cite us again for the same condition because we have not abated the contested safety violation? …