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Employment Law

Can you force staff to participate in wellness programs?

02/01/2008

Your organization, like many, may have embraced a wellness program to help employees quit smoking, lose weight, exercise more or participate in screenings for high blood pressure or cholesterol. You may have even thought about requiring employees to participate. But that’s a controversial practice that is likely to step on laws ranging from HIPAA to the ADA …

Same job titles don’t always demand identical pay

02/01/2008

While the federal Equal Pay Act prohibits wage discrimination against women, it doesn’t require every employee in the same position to earn the same salary. If you can point to factors other than gender (e.g., seniority, education, experience, skills, etc.), you can set different salaries for employees who hold the same job titles …

Consider 360º evaluations to catch supervisor-Bias problems

02/01/2008

Sometimes, it’s hard to see what’s actually going on down at the frontline supervisor level. A rogue manager may be spouting all sorts of garbage and getting away with it—until he fires someone who ultimately sues. Then, it may be too late to save the company from a costly jury verdict. One way to spot potential problems is with a simple HR evaluation technique—the so-called 360-degree evaluation …

Litigious worker criticizes company? You may be able to fire

02/01/2008

Employers can’t discipline employees for filing discrimination claims with state or federal agencies. That’s retaliation. But what if an employee is spouting off to co-workers and customers about how he’s suing to “get” the company? …

Do you have a ‘No lying’ policy? It could be a legal lifesaver

02/01/2008

If you don’t have one, consider adding a general honesty or misrepresentation clause to your employee handbook. Such a clause can come in handy when you are looking for a solid reason to discharge someone who just isn’t being upfront and honest with the company, but technically may not have violated a specific work rule …

Having dispute in ‘Grievance’ does not stop lawsuit deadline

02/01/2008

All employers with a unionized work force, take note: Just because someone has an age discrimination claim awaiting resolution under your collective bargaining agreement’s grievance procedures doesn’t mean the employee can’t prepare to file a lawsuit. In fact, the employee may have no choice but to go forward …

Turnabout is fair play: Employers may be able to sue for frivolous lawsuits

02/01/2008

In an interesting Supreme Court of Ohio case, the high court has ruled that a lawsuit by an employer against an employee who filed an employment discrimination lawsuit against it is not automatically retaliation. The court’s decision overturned a long-held view of the Ohio Civil Rights Commission …

Female police officer says drunken male cops treated better

02/01/2008

Christina Johnson, a police officer for Olmsted Township who was fired for crawling into a stranger’s car while highly intoxicated and then passing out, will have the chance to convince a jury that she suffered discrimination. Johnson was off duty during the episode, but was wearing her uniform sweater …

Court upholds cities’ rights to set residency requirements

02/01/2008

Can an Ohio city force its employees to live within the city limits? Right now, that depends on the city. The 3rd District Court of Appeals recently ruled that towns in its jurisdiction can require employees to live where they work, overturning a 2006 state law that barred towns from imposing residency requirements …

Changes to Ohio’s pregnancy discrimination rules now in question

02/01/2008

In the fall of 2007, the Ohio Civil Rights Commission’s proposed revisions to the rules governing pregnancy discrimination became a hot political topic. Due to some unusual political wrangling, the future of the proposed rule revision is very much in question …