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

Employment Law

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 …

Supreme Court preview: Key FLSA, bias cases on tap

10/01/2005
While much of the recent U.S. Supreme Court drama has swirled around who will serve on the court, employers are looking forward to key employment-law cases that the court will hear …

USERRA: Know your duty to returning disabled reservists

10/01/2005
THE LAW. You may know that the federal Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) requires employers to reinstate employees who take military-related leave, plus it prohibits job discrimination against …

Drug testing is perfectly legal … if done properly

10/01/2005

Q. I have an employee who says that our drug-testing program is a violation of his constitutional rights. What can I tell him (or show him) to prove that we’re well within the law? —S.H., Texas

Beware of hidden legal risks in annual HR audits

10/01/2005
Issue: HR audits can help you identify weak points in your employment-law compliance.
Risk: If you don’t act on the audit’s recommendations (and employees find out) that mistake can kill …

Teach managers how to handle staff returning from injury

10/01/2005
Issue: Employees who return from injury leave may or may not be covered under the ADA.
Risk: By treating employees as if they’re “disabled” (even if they’re not), supervisors create …