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Employment Law

OK to place employee on paid leave pending investigation

02/01/2008

Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Burlington Northern retaliation decision in 2006, employers have been struggling with exactly what to do while investigating wrongdoings. One vexing issue has been whether it could be retaliation to place an employee on paid administrative leave pending an investigation …

Head off ADA complaints by proactively offering to discuss accommodations

02/01/2008

The ADA requires employers to engage in an interactive process to determine whether an applicant or employee is actually disabled and what, if any, accommodations are possible. But the law doesn’t expect employers to be clairvoyant …

Make sure you pay what contract states

02/01/2008

Indiana employers, listen up! Pay your workers what you say you will pay them, or get ready to pay a lot more. Employees can sue for unpaid wages under the Indiana Wage Payment Act and collect three times their unpaid wages. That can add up quickly …

Handbook helps convince court to overturn discrimination decision

02/01/2008

The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed a decision by the Michigan City Human Rights Commission finding that Filter Specialists Inc. discriminated against two employees because they are black. Dawn Brooks and Charmaine Weathers were fired in 2003 for time-card fraud …

Supreme Corporation takes $427,000 hit for discrimination

02/01/2008

Goshen-based Supreme Corporation, the nation’s leading truck body manufacturer, has agreed to pay $427,000 to settle a race discrimination lawsuit with the EEOC and seven former employees …

Indianapolis Navistar employees return to work after strike

02/01/2008

A seven-week strike by United Auto Workers (UAW) against Warrenville, IL-based truck and engine maker Navistar International Inc. ended in December. The union’s contract expired on Oct. 1, but employees worked through Oct. 23 before walking out on the company’s engine plants in Illinois and Indianapolis …

Health incentive plans must comply with HIPAA rules

02/01/2008

As another year of double-digit increases in health care costs looms, employers are looking to save money wherever they can. Recently, many have tried to do so by implementing incentive programs designed to improve the health of their employees. But health incentive plans must comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act’s privacy and nondiscrimination rules …

Inappropriate info on old applications

02/01/2008

Q. I was recently hired as the first-ever HR director for a company that has been in business for more than 40 years. While reviewing employee files, I was aghast to find applications from the late ’70s and early ’80s asking very inappropriate questions—the applicant’s political party, religious faith and even family planning goals. I know times have changed, and the company’s applications have been EEO-compliant for more than 20 years. But I worry that the company will get in trouble with the EEOC or other government agencies if the old applications are found in our files. Should I have older employees who filled out the inappropriate applications all those years ago complete and submit current EEO-compliant applications? …

You don’t have to ‘Accommodate’ offensive proselytizing

02/01/2008

Employers often have to balance the rights of divergent protected groups in ways that seem impossible. Consider what happens when a local ordinance says you cannot discriminate against an employee based on sexual orientation, while state and federal law says you cannot discriminate against someone for a sincerely held religious belief …

When discouraged applicants sue, don’t ‘Blacklist’ them

02/01/2008

Here’s a trap you should be aware of: An applicant who sues when he isn’t hired often keeps on applying—and then turns around and claims that you “blacklisted” him in retaliation for the lawsuit. Here’s how you should respond …