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Employment Law

Minneapolis rated best city for LGBT protection

01/15/2015
Minneapolis earned the top spot 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. Minneapolis scored a perfect 100 on the gay-rights advocacy organization’s scale.

Iron-clad misconduct proof not needed to fire

01/15/2015
Worried about terminating an employee because the allegations against him amount to a he-said, she-said situation? Relax. Courts don’t want to become HR departments and don’t want to mediate every dispute.

Employee on workers’ comp refuses to take a drug test: Is it legal to terminate him?

01/14/2015
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Technological change drives three new NLRB decisions

01/14/2015
The National Labor Relations Board has issued three far-reaching decisions that change long-standing practices under the National Labor Relations Act. All reflect a disquieting connection between modern communications and old-fashioned labor relations.

Transgender employees: The new protected category?

01/14/2015

By now, most employers are familiar with the list of categories protected from employment discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act: race, color, religion, national origin and sex. Other federal anti-discrimination laws add additional protected categories to the list: disability (ADA), age (Age Discrimination in Employment Act), pregnancy (Pregnancy Dis­­crimi­­nation Act) and genetic information (Genetic Information Non­­dis­­crimi­­na­­tion Act). Absent is any mention of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Amazon, NLRB reach accord on ‘disrespectful, loud’ speech

01/14/2015
Online retail giant Amazon and the NLRB have resolved an unfair labor practices claim with an agreement that could lead to unionization of many of the company’s warehouses. The move was prompted by a heavy-handed response to an employee complaint during an employee meeting.

Study suggests widespread minimum wage violations in NY

01/14/2015
A study commissioned by the U.S. Department of Labor finds that somewhere between 3.5% and 6.5% of workers in New York earn less than the minimum wage. The study, performed by Eastern Research Group, showed that more than 300,000 New York workers were being paid illegally low wages.

Not every complaint amounts to protected activity

01/14/2015

It’s illegal to retaliate against employees for engaging in protected activity. But not every complaint qualifies as protected activity. For example, under Title VII, retaliation is only illegal if it relates to a complaint about some form of discrimination covered by that law.

False arrest can be retaliation

01/14/2015
It’s almost always a bad idea to make an example out of a terminated employee.

OK to fire if employee doesn’t call to explain why he missed expected FMLA return date

01/14/2015
Employees are supposed to notify their employers about their need for FMLA leave as soon as is practical. When they are already out on leave with a set return date, the same rule applies if the employee will need more time off. He or she can’t just extend the leave without telling anyone and expect to keep the job.