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Employment Law

It’s OK to slightly alter FMLA leave-taker’s job

04/01/2005
Issue: As a new ruling shows, you can make minor changes to an employee’s job while he or she is on FMLA leave.
Benefit: Increased staffing flexibility, decreased liability under …

Warn managers: no ‘one-sided’ socializing

03/01/2005
Supervisors may naturally feel more comfortable with employees from one gender or the other. But, as a new court ruling shows, it’s important to counsel supervisors never to hold members of …

Can you limit employees’ time to file suit?

03/01/2005
An employee’s ability to sue your organization expires at different times under various employment laws. For example, in most states, employees can file sexual harassment lawsuits within 300 days of the …

Do your managers know an FMLA request when they see one?

03/01/2005
When employees request leave, especially for unforeseen circumstances, they don’t need to assert their FMLA rights explicitly by saying, “I need FMLA leave.” In fact, they don’t need to mention FMLA …

Age-bias law covers apprenticeships.

03/01/2005
Several applicants over age 40 complained to the EEOC about age bias after they were turned down for admission to a maritime training apprenticeship program. The EEOC sued the program and …

“Confederate Southern-American” isn’t a protected class.

03/01/2005
It’s illegal to discriminate in hiring, firing, promotions or pay because of a person’s national origin. Courts have said national origin must refer to a country where the person was born …

Hair samples are a legitimate method of drug tests.

03/01/2005
A police department ordered one if its officers to provide a hair sample for a drug test after it suspected him of using cocaine. The test, which involved shaving a patch …

Keep applications clean; jotting notes may trigger hiring-bias claims

03/01/2005
Don’t track applicants’ race, sex, religion, age or national origin information on their applications or any other pre-offer documents unless you’re required to do so under certain affirmative-action laws. And if …

More reason to crack down on disability-related jokes and teasing

03/01/2005
When training supervisors, stress that they must work harder to prevent workplace intolerance toward employees with physical or mental impairments.
Reason: More courts are allowing employees to use
the …

When handing out discipline, make punishment fit the crime

03/01/2005
Managers may want to “get tough” on employees who have given them trouble in the past. But, as the following case shows, employees can sue for retaliation if they can prove …