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Employment Law

HR staffing: Those who handle discipline shouldn’t have access to FMLA info

12/23/2014

If you have a large enough HR office, it makes good sense to keep the FMLA request and approval process separate from the disciplinary process. Doing so ensures that someone with expertise in FMLA administration handles the entire process. But there is an additional benefit.

More than a matter of style: Grooming rules can differ based on sex

12/23/2014
If you have a dress and grooming policy that sets out different rules for men and women, you aren’t necessarily setting yourself up for a sex discrimination lawsuit.

City of Brotherly Love rates high for LGBT rights

12/23/2014
Philadelphia scored a perfect 100 in the Human Rights Campaign’s annual rankings of American cities with local laws and policies that protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from discrimination.

Beware firing right after EEOC complaint

12/23/2014
Here’s a warning on discharge timing: If you happen to make the final termination decision right after the employee files an EEOC charge, timing alone may be enough to send the case to trial.

NLRB pushes ahead on joint employer cases

12/23/2014

A Dec. 19 statement from the NLRB’s Office of the General Counsel said it found merit in 78 unfair labor practices charges filed against various McDonald’s franchise holders and McDonald’s USA. That means McDonald’s USA could be found liable for any illegal employment practices committed by its franchisees.

10 mistakes that crush your ability to win a retaliation lawsuit

12/22/2014

When employees complain internally about discrimination or lodge a complaint with an outside agency like the EEOC, they’ve en­gaged in what’s called “protected activity.” They may not be correct about the discrimination, but if the employer retaliated against an em­­ployee for complaining in the first place, they could win a large jury award anyway.

Providing References to Other Employers

12/19/2014

HR Law 101: Despite all the risks, providing other employers with references about your former employees is a good business practice. If you refused to provide references, eventually you would compromise your ability to find out about applicants you’re considering hiring …

Severance Pay

12/18/2014

HR Law 101: Severance policies are generally considered employee benefit plans entitled to ERISA protection, many courts have ruled. For employers, that means conforming to ERISA’s recordkeeping and disclosure requirements …

Accommodating Medical Marijuana

12/18/2014

HR Law 101: Currently, 23 states have legalized the use of medical marijuana. Whether employers in those states must accommodate legal medical marijuana use depends on how courts interpret state law.

Avoid OT issues: Ban off-the-clock work and automatic nightly time-clock resets

12/17/2014

If your business doesn’t operate 24/7, you probably shut down just about everything at some point during the night. If that shutdown includes resetting the time clocks to automatically clock out everyone, you may be courting a lawsuit.