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Employment Law

Slurs followed by firing? Get a lawyer!

09/17/2014
Here’s a surefire way to spur a lawsuit and ensure it goes to trial: Just fire an employee who has been the target of her boss’s racial slurs.

Discipline for problems discovered during FMLA

09/17/2014
Some employees seem to think that their employer can’t punish them for violating company rules if they happen to be on FMLA leave when their employer finds out. They think the FMLA protects them broadly from consequences. For­­tu­­nately, that’s just not true.

To prove executive exemption, show employee’s ‘direct involvement’ in hiring

09/17/2014

Employees are eligible for overtime pay unless their positions fit into one of several exemption categories, including the executive exemption. But take note: Don’t try to apply the executive exemption label unless the employee is directly involved in hiring and firing or his or her recommendations are seriously considered during the decision-making process.

Why do workers take FMLA leave?

09/16/2014
According to a new Department of Labor report, these are the top reasons workers take FMLA leave.

Drug tests: What to do about ‘watered down’ results?

09/12/2014
Q. We have a couple of workers who keep getting “negative dilute” results of drug tests. Our policy is to not accept the result and to retest. Can we require the retest to be an observed collection?

22% of workforce covered by ban on transgender bias

09/10/2014
According to the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law, which tracks gay-rights issues in the workplace, more than a fifth of U.S. workers will be covered by the Department of Labor’s August announcement that it will interpret prohibitions on sex discrimination in a recent Obama administration executive order to include discrimination based on gender identity and transgender status.

Can workplace cliques be proof of racial discrimination?

09/09/2014
You may think that what employees do in the breakroom or at post-work happy hours is their own business. That could be an expensive mistake.

‘Onionhead’ religion? Who’s crying now?

09/08/2014
Federal law says employees “cannot be forced to participate in a religious activity as a condition of employment.” And while most such lawsuits involve Bibles on desks or crosses around necks, a new religious harassment case centers around vegetables.

Supreme Court to decide key employment law cases this term

09/05/2014
Cases heard starting Oct. 6 will decide questions involving the reach of federal agencies that enforce employment laws.

New York amends Human Rights Law to protect unpaid interns

09/05/2014
On July 22, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill that amends the New York Human Rights Law by adding a new Section 296-c titled, “Unlawful discriminatory practices relating to interns.”