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Employment Law

Sexual bullying is harassment under California’s FEHA

09/21/2015
It’s a violation of California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act for a supervisor to use an employee’s sexuality as a vehicle for making work life miserable. That’s true even if it wasn’t motivated by sexual desire. Bullying someone through sexual threats is sexual harassment.

Accommodation up in the air at Express Jet

09/21/2015
Recently, Express Jet Airways placed a Muslim flight attendant on unpaid leave after she refused to serve alcohol during flights.

What employment law cases will the Supreme Court hear next?

09/20/2015
The High Court has agreed to hear several cases during its 2015-2016 term that will have significant ramifications for employers.

Lawsuit guarantee: Fire the day FMLA eligibility starts

09/18/2015
Employees who have worked for at least one year and put in at least 1,250 hours are eligible for FMLA leave if they work for a covered employer. Expect a lawsuit if, on her one-year anniversary, you fire an employee who has requested FMLA.

Piece-rate pay trims $8 million from Petco

09/17/2015
National retailer Petco has settled a lawsuit filed by employees in California who groom pets in the company’s stores. The suit alleged the company failed to pay the workers minimum wage and overtime in violation of state and federal laws.

Can employee take intermittent FMLA leave to attend her child’s sporting events?

09/14/2015
Q. An employee’s daughter has diabetes and the employee has intermittent leave to provide assistance and care for her. The employee is now using FMLA leave to attend her daughter’s field hockey games and practices, claiming she needs to be there in case of diabetic complications during athletic events. The health care certification that we received in connection with this FMLA leave request does refer to a need to provide care during “flare ups.” Do we have to continue to permit the mother to attend the games and practices as intermittent FMLA leave?

What should we do? We’re worried that one of our company laptops may contain child porn

09/14/2015
Q. Our HR team has been advised that one of our employees has been arrested for possessing child pornography. This employee has a company laptop computer that is in our worksite. What, if anything, should we be doing with this computer?

DOL releases proposed revisions to ‘white collar’ overtime exemptions

09/14/2015

On July 6, the U.S. Department of Labor published a 295-page Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) seeking public comments on proposed changes to the “white collar” overtime exemption regulations. The comment period closed on Sept. 4. The DOL proposes specific changes to the salary level requirements for the majority of the white collar exemptions and also seeks commentary regarding potential changes to the duties tests for the exemptions.

University of Minnesota admits fumbling on athletic director hire

09/14/2015
University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler says he takes “full responsibility” for the botched hiring of Norwood Teague as the university’s athletic director. Teague resigned Aug. 7 after admitting he sexually harassed two administrators at a university leadership event.

Working overtime hours can be an essential function

09/14/2015
Working overtime can be an essential job function. If disabled employees can’t work overtime, you may not have to accommodate them.