Employment Law

Employees can disobey bias-tainted orders

10/01/2005

When an employee refuses to carry out an order, supervisors may automatically think such insubordination is worthy of discipline or firing. Not so fast! That initial response, punish the employee, may …

Turn to Last-Chance Agreements for Legal Leverage

10/01/2005

Many employers use "last-chance agreements" to give employees one final opportunity to turn around attendance, productivity and attitude problems. Here’s good news if you use last-chance agreements on employees with drug and alcohol problems: The ADA and many state laws give you the leverage to keep employees clean … and fire them if they’re not …

A surprise inspection can uncover discrimination before it’s too late

10/01/2005

There may be areas of your workplace that supervisors, and maybe even HR, rarely visit, such as locker rooms, loading docks and break rooms. But don’t take a “hear no evil, …

Even small changes to employees’ schedules can equal retaliation

10/01/2005

To prove retaliation claims in court, employees must be able to show they suffered negative employment action in response to their lawsuit, such as termination, lowering of pay, denying a promotion …

Don’t drag your feet on employees’ accommodation requests

10/01/2005

Some problems will eventually go away if you wait long enough. But that’s not the attitude to take when employees request workplace accommodations for their physical or mental conditions.
The …

Continued employment enough to bind employees to noncompete pact

10/01/2005

You may be afraid that your top salesperson or IT whiz is about to jump ship to the competition, but you failed to sign those employees to noncompete agreements when you …

Focus on duties, not title, to decide overtime eligibility

10/01/2005

Managers are exempt from overtime, right? Wrong. The term “manager” means different things in different organizations. That’s why it’s important to look at each employee’s specific duties and responsibilities when deciding …

Converting staff to contractors isn’t bias, but do it correctly

10/01/2005

Terminating a class of employees and offering them to return as independent contractors can save you thousands. But it may raise eyebrows. That’s why, to avoid lawsuits under the Age Discrimination …

Check state, local laws on sexual-orientation bias

10/01/2005

No federal law grants job discrimination protection for people due to their sexual orientation or “gender identity,” but many employers are unaware that several state and local laws make workplace bias …

Drug-test cheating on the rise; fight back with random tests

10/01/2005

Can you trust negative drug test results anymore?
The Internet is flooded with products, more than 400, according to a Business Insurance report, that help employees and job candidates cheat …