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Employment Law

One time you don’t have to give FMLA notice

03/12/2017
If an employee has already taken FMLA leave several times before, do you still have to go through the motions of providing FMLA notice every time the employee calls off?

Labor Department still probing Wells Fargo

03/09/2017
Fallout from the Wells Fargo sham account fraud continues. The scandal, which broke last fall, recently cost four senior bank executives their jobs.

Is it legitimate to prohibit our employees from discussing their compensation?

03/07/2017
Q. Our policy prohibits employees from discussing their salaries and benefits with each other. This helps reduce untimely requests for raises, petty gossip and the inevitable questions about why one employee makes more than another. Is such a policy a good idea?

Proposed EEOC guidance urges employers to prevent harassment

03/07/2017
Proposed EEOC enforcement guidance on unlawful harassment issued in January emphasizes that employers should take a proactive role in preventing harassment, as well as in effectively identifying and eradicating harassment if and when it occurs.

Black firefighter alleges discrimination in Irving, Texas F.D.

03/07/2017
The first black firefighter in the Irving, Texas Fire Department is suing the department, claiming it promoted a less qualified white applicant to assistant fire chief.

Texas legislature considers bill to promote pay equity

03/07/2017
State Sen. Eric Johnson has introduced legislation that would bar employers from asking for an applicant’s salary history before making a qualified job offer that includes a proposed salary.

Rules entrapment can be considered retaliation

03/07/2017
If a worker files a harassment complaint and a supervisor decides to punish him by setting him up to violate a company rule, that can be retaliation. It doesn’t matter if the worker in question actually broke the rule.

High pay alone has no effect on employees’ exempt/nonexempt FLSA status

03/07/2017
Employers can’t assume that because an employee earns more than $100,000 per year and performs some duties that could arguably be considered exempt management tasks, they qualify for the FLSA’s so-called Highly Compensated Exemption.

Military-connected employees? It’s your duty to understand USERRA obligations

03/07/2017
USERRA extends workplace protection to those who return to work after active duty. Essentially under USERRA, those employees are no longer at-will employees; you may only terminate them for cause.

FMLA: You can require fitness-for-duty proof

03/07/2017
It’s perfectly acceptable to require employees who want to return to work following an absence to present a fitness-for-duty certificate from a medical provider. Just make sure you require it from all similarly situated employees.