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Employment Law

Base English-only rules on business necessity

10/01/2000
Unless you have a good business reason, steer clear of preventing workers from talking to each other in their native language. In September …

Hotel’s bid for ‘cool’ valets teaches lesson on job standards

10/01/2000
Under a new Equal Employment Opportunity Commission settlement, a group of valet/bellmen will collect $120,000 each from the upscale California hotel …

FMLA regulation strikes out again

10/01/2000
Another federal appeals court has struck down Labor Department regulations that say the clock doesn’t start ticking on an employee’s allowable …

Age-related laws: Liability lurks at both ends of spectrum

10/01/2000
Federal employment laws protect workers from cradle to grave, but in very different ways. For young workers, the law prevents them from performing dangerous …

Lesson of Reeves: Give reason for employment decision

10/01/2000
When making an employment decision (such as firing, hiring, demotion), it’s important for your words and actions to be consistent with your true reasons. It’s equally vital …

Sweeten deal when asking staff to sign noncompetes

10/01/2000

Q. Can I ask employees who are already with the company to execute noncompete agreements? —L.T., Georgia

Check arbitration pacts against these standards

10/01/2000

Q. To hold down litigation costs and resolve disputes faster, we’re thinking about requiring employees to sign arbitration agreements that would make them arbitrate employment disputes instead of going to court. Are these agreements legal? —C.R., California

Extra travel time counts as work time

10/01/2000

Q. One of our executives will be making day trips once a week to New York from Washington, D.C., for a special assignment, and her secretary will be accompanying her. The secretary’s regular workday is 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The trips will require the secretary to arrive at the airport by 7:30 a.m., and she’ll be back in Washington by 8 p.m. Do we have to compensate the nonexempt secretary for her travel time to and from New York? —L.L., Washington, D.C.

Pitch old records with care

10/01/2000

Q. How long is a company supposed to keep paper records? We’d like to throw out some of our old, archived paperwork. —B.H., Pennsylvania

New union threat: NLRB makes it easier for temps to join

10/01/2000
If you thought contracting for temporary and contingent workers would save you headaches, you may be reaching for the aspirin again. Temps used to need permission …