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Employment Law

White House pushes for paid sick, family leave

01/21/2015
The Obama administration has unveiled a series of proposals to provide paid family leave for new parents and seven days of paid sick leave for all American workers.

The fast lane to legal liability: Require employees to use their cars for work

01/20/2015

Do you sometimes require em­­ployees to use their personal cars during the workday for job-related tasks like making banking runs or delivering supplies? If so, you’re risking liability if the em­­ployee is in an accident and a jury decides he was negligent.

Union-Organizing Efforts

01/20/2015

HR Law 101: The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) applies strict rules of conduct to employers during union-organizing campaigns. But whether you choose to accept the union or resist it, you can still exercise your rights effectively. Or, if a union has already won a representation election in your organization, you need to know how to prevent the union from encroaching on your management rights … 

Won a lawsuit? Courts still reluctant to make losing worker pay your legal fees

01/19/2015

It can be frustrating to have to defend your organization against what you consider frivolous legal claims by employees. Unfortunately, that’s just another cost of doing business. As the following case shows, even when you win the case and thought it should never have been filed, you probably won’t persuade a court to penalize the employee by having him pay your legal fees.

New NLRB ruling shows risk of prohibiting ‘loud, disrespectful’ speech

01/16/2015
During an all-staff meeting at an Amazon.com warehouse in Arizona, an employee loudly voiced concerns about an on-site safety issue. After the meeting, he was called in the HR office and told he spoke too loudly and disrespectfully, both of which violated company policy. The employee countered by saying he had to speak loudly to be heard—and he objected to Amazon’s heavy-handed response.

Jury trial approved for retaliatory discharge claims

01/15/2015
Employees who claim they were fired for seeking workers’ comp benefits are entitled to a jury trial. That can result in big damages, as juries are notoriously prone to making employers pay.

After firing boss accused of harassment, zip your lips

01/15/2015
If a court concludes that one of your supervisors created a hostile work environment, you probably don’t want to retain him. But don’t go overboard with the explanations.

Court refuses to sidestep employee notification of pending class-action lawsuit

01/15/2015
The federal trial court with jurisdiction over Minnesota employers has refused an employer’s request to streamline the FLSA collective-action process.

Ask court to limit claims when employee acts as his or her own lawyer

01/15/2015
Good news for employers that are sued by pro se litigants—employees who act as their own lawyers. Courts really don’t want to waste time on cases that no attorney has seen fit to take on. However, they also don’t want to let lack of legal representation sink an otherwise solid claim.

He who has the best time records usually wins a wage-and-hour lawsuit

01/15/2015

The FLSA and DOL regulations require employers to track all hours worked so employees can be paid for all the time they spend working. That’s especially true for hourly employees. But what about tracking hours for so-called exempt employees who aren’t eligible for overtime pay for hours worked over 40 per week?