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Employment Law

Minneapolis mayor Hodges calls for more worker-friendly policies

05/18/2015
In her second State of the City address, Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges called for more regular work schedules, more overtime pay and greater access to paid sick days.

Spell out rules for returning from FMLA leave

05/18/2015
What do you expect an employee to do at the end of approved FMLA leave? Clarify that it’s the employee’s responsibility to notify the employer and check his schedule when he receives medical clearance. Then, if the employee ignores your instructions and doesn’t show up, it’s willful misconduct—making him ineligible for unemployment benefits.

Pay attention to details when disciplining

05/18/2015
The more general your discharge reasons, the easier it is for the former employee to argue that discrimination was in play. Conversely, specific discharge reasons make it much harder to argue discrimination because chances are the fired worker won’t find someone similarly situated (i.e., who broke exactly the same rule) for comparison. See how this played out in a recent case.

24/7 monitoring on company cellphone prompts lawsuit

05/18/2015
A California sales executive is suing her employer after she was fired for disabling an app on her company-provided iPhone that tracked her whereabouts even during nonwork hours.

‘Stop!’ makes harassment complaint count

05/18/2015
Conventional wisdom says that employees who fail to report harassment can’t later surprise us with a lawsuit, since it’s impossible to stop harassment that we never learn about. It turns out that’s not always true.

Hidden disabilities: What’s your duty to accommodate?

05/18/2015
While the Americans with Disabilities Act says you must offer a “reasonable accommodation” to disabled employees, how obvious must the person’s disability be before you fall under that requirement? And what is the employee’s duty to alert you and request the accommodation? As this case shows, courts don’t expect you to play a guessing game with your staff. Employees have a responsibility to explain their conditions and request an accommodation.

NLRB set to clear all cases affected by Noel Canning decision

05/18/2015
According to National Labor Relations Board Chair Mark Gaston Pearce, the NLRB is on track to resolve by June 26 all cases that were returned to it when the Supreme Court ruled that three recess board appointments made in 2012 were unconstitutional.

Can we put travel limits on workers taking FMLA?

05/15/2015
Q. Do we have to let an employee leave the United States to visit his home country while on family medical leave? Are there restrictions? — Terry, New Jersey

Use a last-chance agreement to salvage employee, avoid lawsuit

05/14/2015

Sometimes, a marginal worker shows promise and immediate termination isn’t warranted. Plus, you’re concerned that a lawsuit may follow the firing. In such cases, consider drafting a last-chance agreement (LCA) for the employee. Think of it as hitting the reset button. Here’s what to include in an LCA, pluse a sample LCA you can adopt for your workplace …

‘Your job or your daughter’: Yeah, that’ll draw a lawsuit

05/14/2015
A boss who allegedly asked a subordinate to choose between her job and her daughter will now have to explain his remarks to a jury.