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Employment Law

Employees criticizing the firm? Where to draw the line

12/01/2006

Execs and supervisors may bristle at criticism from employees and instinctively want to punish offenders. But that apparent insubordination can sometimes be considered protected speech under federal or state law. Knowing what’s protected and what’s not is key …

Must you pay workers for time spent learning English?

12/01/2006

If you have non-English speaking employees, you may be making efforts to help improve their language skills. But in which cases must you pay employees for that training time? …

When disciplining employees, equality is vital

12/01/2006

The mantra in real estate is “location, location, location.” But the mantra in employee discipline must always be “consistency, consistency, consistency” …

New rules on discovery of e-mail, IMs take effect

12/01/2006

If your organization is sued, it must turn over related documents, including old e-mails or computer records. New changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure that took effect Dec. 1 place more burdens on you to come clean with what you have …

You can be held personally liable for wage payment errors

12/01/2006

If you’re a decision-maker in your organization and exercise that power to withhold wages from an employee, you could find yourself personally liable to that employee if you get it wrong …

UI benefits due unless you prove independent contractor status

12/01/2006

The Pennsylvania Unemployment Compensation Law includes a presumption that out-of-work individuals are employees, not independent contractors (who aren’t eligible for UI benefits). It’s up to you—not the worker—to prove that he or she is an independent contractor …

‘Job commitment’ is valid reason to reject an applicant

12/01/2006

When it comes to evaluating applicants, you can consider factors like evidence of the employee’s commitment to the job and the likelihood he won’t stick around. That’s true even if it means you don’t hire an older applicant who worked for your organization in the past and received good reviews …

Be wary of ‘Public policy’ exception to at-Will employment

12/01/2006

While at-will employment is the standard in Pennsylvania, the right to fire an employee with or without cause is not absolute. Your organization can be sued under state law if former employees can show that they were fired in retaliation for exercising a right protected by Pennsylvania law …

Termination reasons needn’t be long laundry list

12/01/2006

Firing an employee is a painful process. But delivering the news needn’t turn into a marathon discussion or airing of every management beef about the employee …

Allowing bias by subcontractor could be ‘Aiding and abetting’

12/01/2006

If your organization hires a subcontracting firm and knows that it’s discriminating against its employees, take note: You could be held liable under a rather obscure part of Pennsylvania law …