• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Employment Law

Romance at the office, liability later?

01/01/2008

Q. At a recent office get-together, two members of my staff announced they were officially dating. Our company has a strict policy that prohibits dating between a supervisor and a direct subordinate, but our handbook is silent as to relationships such as this one between co-workers. Are there any steps I should take to protect the company from liability? …

Aside from normal overtime, is there such a thing as mandatory holiday pay?

01/01/2008

Q. Our business has recently started staying open on certain national holidays, including Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. One of our employees was adamant that he was entitled to “holiday pay” for the time he worked on Thanksgiving, which he maintained was equal to 150% of his normal wage, even though he was not entitled to overtime that week. Do we have to pay a premium wage to employees who work on a federal holiday? …

Worker receiving disability benefits: Can we substitute unpaid FMLA for paid leave?

01/01/2008

Q. My employee, who is a union member, has a nonwork-related injury that requires a six-week absence from work. In the meantime, she is receiving $300 per week through a union trust fund that provides her and other covered union members with short-term disability benefits. She also has requested and was placed on FMLA leave. We’d like her to substitute any unpaid FMLA leave with paid leave, which is our usual company policy when someone is out on FMLA leave. Is there a problem with doing this in this situation?

Court: Tailor complaint procedure to ‘Average’ worker

01/01/2008

When was the last time you read your company’s harassment reporting procedures? Could all employees in your organization understand how—and with whom—to file a complaint? It’s important to ask these questions in the wake of a new court ruling that should give you incentive to cut the legalese and confusion out of your reporting procedures …

Show fairness by documenting all rule violations, discipline

01/01/2008

You must be prepared to show that you treated each and every employee equally when it comes to discipline. Otherwise, you may find yourself in the same situation as, in the following case, an employer that couldn’t recall how it had disciplined a white employee for violating an attendance rule, but fired a black employee for the same infraction …

When’s a handbook not a handbook? When everyone ignores it

01/01/2008

No doubt, your organization has an employee handbook. You may even have helped draft it or agonized over the amount of money you paid a law firm to create or review it. But one thing is certain—having a handbook won’t do you any good if no one in the company uses it …

Require an applicant medical exam? Job offer must come first

01/01/2008

The ADA protects job applicants from discrimination based on disability, and one of these protections is the right to be free from medical tests or examinations as part of the initial selection process. An employer can ask an applicant to undergo a job-related medical examination only after it has made a job offer …

Interviewers must ask consistent questions, take good notes

01/01/2008

When it comes to promotions, be sure that management team members in charge of interviews are all on the same page. That means ensuring they ask all candidates exactly the same questions and make thorough notes about each applicant …

Exempt/Nonexempt call: Don’t rely entirely on Labor Department opinion letters

01/01/2008

Over the past two years, the U.S. Labor Department has been issuing “opinion letters” fairly frequently, interpreting its own new overtime regulations and addressing specific questions posed by employers. But not every court will agree with the Labor Department’s opinion …

Suspect employee plays fast and loose with FMLA leave? Check medical certification

01/01/2008

Employers are entitled to information about the FMLA intermittent leave employees take and can request certification from the employee’s health care providers. Employers then have to abide by the certification—unless the employer receives information that casts doubt on the certification …