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Employment Law

Essentia Healthcare fires 50 staff for refusing flu shots

12/18/2017

Citing the risk to patients at its 15 hospitals and 75 clinics, Essentia required employees to get vaccinated or provide documentation substantiating medical or religious objections to the inoculations.

Misclassification doesn’t matter if pay meets minimum

12/18/2017

What happens if you misclassify an independent contractor and it turns out she should have been an hourly employee? Regardless of status, you don’t have to worry about meeting a minimum wage requirement if she earned enough to average out to the minimum wage.

Next-day notification OK when need for intermittent FMLA leave wasn’t foreseeable

12/18/2017

If someone didn’t foresee the need for leave (for example, because a medical condition flared up suddenly), don’t turn them down just because they waited overnight to ask for time off.

Be careful rescinding offer after medical exam

12/18/2017

Employers that withdraw a job offer following a pre-employment medical examination risk being sued. Counter by being able to point to a specific task or set of tasks the exam showed would be impossible for the applicant to perform.

EEOC offers anti-harassment best practices

12/14/2017

The EEOC is urging employers to respond to this fall’s national conversation about sexual harassment by reviewing and updating their policies and practices. Based on the EEOC’s 2016 “Harassment in the Workplace” report, here are the best ways employers can prevent sexual harassment in the workplace.

Supreme Court passes on same-sex benefits

12/14/2017

On Dec. 4, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case testing whether the court’s landmark decision legalizing gay marriage requires government entities to provide the same employee benefits to same-sex couples that heterosexual couples receive.

NLRB takes aim at ‘quickie election’ rule

12/14/2017

The National Labor Relations Board has launched a formal bid to overturn a 2014 rule that sped up the election process required to certify union representation of a workforce.

How long must a light-duty reassignment go on?

12/13/2017
Q. An employee returned after a work-related injury with doctor restrictions. We put her in a light-duty job, but it’s been more than 90 days with no end in sight. She works a full eight-hour day, but not in the job we hired her for. What can we do?

It’s up to employees to prove pay bias in EPA suits

12/13/2017

Employees who sue for wage discrimination under the Equal Pay Act have a tough burden of proof to meet.

Be fair about leave requests, or prepare to defend against discrimination lawsuit

12/13/2017

Leave is just as valuable as wages to many employees. That’s why it’s essential to administer leave benefits fairly and equitably.