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Employment Law

Selfridge ANGB chief claims whistle-Blower protection

10/01/2007

The former chief of operations at Selfridge Air National Guard Base claims his position was eliminated in retaliation for his whistle-blower activities. Part of the chief’s job was supervising private contractors and construction companies working on government contracts. The chief claims he continually brought evidence of building code violations, fraud and abuse to the attention of his supervisors—who ignored him …

Employment Relations Commission stops union maneuver

10/01/2007

The Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC) blocked a union ploy to add Public Safety Academy teachers to an existing bargaining unit representing workers employed by a different school system …

Whistle-Blower turns broken code into $90,000

10/01/2007

A fired Bay City municipal building inspector has his job back and is $90,000 richer. The inspector refused to issue a building permit because it conformed to a defunct building code, but not the newly enacted one …

Complying with the revised EEO-1 reporting requirements

10/01/2007

Employers were required to file a new and revised EEO-1 report by Sept. 30. The EEOC recently revised the report form for the first time in more than 40 years. Did your organization comply with the new reporting requirements—or will you need to make changes? …

Michigan’s minimum wage is higher than the federal rate

10/01/2007

Q. The federal minimum wage increased in July. How does that relate to the minimum wage in Michigan? …

Employee fraternization—The kiss of discord?

10/01/2007

Q. We are a relatively small company, and it has come to our attention that two of our single employees have become romantically involved. One of the employees is in management. We have no policy addressing employee fraternization (if that is the correct term), and we wonder whether we can, or should, do something about it. Ideas? …

Make sure employees know your policies on moonlighting

10/01/2007

Do your employees ever take time off (whether vacation, personal time or even FMLA leave) to work a second job? You can’t do much about that unless you have a solid policy that prohibits moonlighting. Otherwise, employees on leave are free to spend that time any way they want, even working for someone else or in their own business …

You can provide ‘Accommodation’ without admitting disability

10/01/2007

Even if you aren’t positive an employee’s problems amount to a disability, don’t worry about offering an accommodation. You aren’t admitting the employee is disabled, nor are you “regarding” him or her as disabled. You can still challenge the disability without ADA liability …

EEOC discrimination letter? It’s not the final word

10/01/2007

The EEOC is the first stop in a Title VII discrimination case, but not the last. Often, the agency will say there’s no case. Sometimes, however, it will issue a letter stating “determination that discrimination took place.” But that decision is by no means final. When the case goes to federal court, judges are free to ignore the EEOC’s determination …

Georgia-Pacific’s literacy test fails to make the grade

10/01/2007

The U.S. Labor Department recently ruled that Georgia-Pacific’s use of a literacy test to screen applicants for jobs at its paper mills is discriminatory. The reason: Paper-mill workers don’t need to read well and black applicants are far more likely to fail a literacy test than whites, the department said …