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Employment Law

Remind bosses: Employees approved for intermittent FMLA leave are entitled to take it

02/19/2014
Employees with chronic conditions may need time off, but can’t always plan those absences in advance. And that may mean understaffed positions on short notice. That’s unfortunate, but it’s something a good manager must work around—and something HR should monitor.

ADA: You may not have to honor employee’s request for gradual return to work

02/19/2014

It may be a reasonable accommodation to grant additional time off after a disabled employee has used up her FMLA entitlement and other leave. But what if the disabled employee wants a gradual return to work, easing back in by working part time?

Investigate all allegations of harassment, even those made by poor performers

02/19/2014

Just because an employee is doing a lousy job doesn’t mean she isn’t also being sexually harassed. Ignoring her complaints and focusing strictly on her performance may backfire if you terminate her. A jury may decide that harassment affected her performance or that, even if you fired her for legitimate reasons, she deserves compensation for the har­­ass­­ment she endured.

Warn bosses: Don’t punish for workers’ comp

02/19/2014

Minnesota workers injured on the job are entitled to workers’ compensation benefits and can’t be punished for asking for or receiving those benefits. Remind supervisors and ­managers that it’s their job to manage the work­­force despite injuries and that threatening or actually punishing workers who apply for benefits is illegal.

Argument in the workplace isn’t harassment

02/19/2014
Sometimes, employees lose their tempers. That’s unfortunate and you certainly should discourage it. But a loud or tumultuous argument between a supervisor and a subordinate isn’t necessarily grounds for a harassment lawsuit.

Light duty and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act

02/18/2014
Sometimes, it may be appropriate to offer light-duty assignments to pregnant employees. However, there’s a right way and a wrong way to handle those accommodations.

N.Y. wage-and-hour news you can use: annual notices & tax credits

02/18/2014
Now that 2014 is in full swing, it’s time to make sure your organization is up to speed on new wage-and-hour obligations and prepare to take advantage of a new tax incentive for hiring student workers.

Corning nursing home settles GINA, ADA lawsuit

02/18/2014
The Founders Pavilion nursing home in Corning will pay $370,000 to settle charges it violated the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act and the ADA. The problem: The facility asked job applicants about their family medical histories during post-offer, pre-employment physical examinations.

Bad bosses? Probably. Were they racist? No

02/18/2014
A federal judge has dismissed race discrimination charges against the New York Post newspaper. While the judge agreed that two black reporters who sued experienced “a raucous work environment” in which bosses “yelled and cursed at reporters,” they were treated no differently than co-workers who aren’t black.

Harassment over interracial relationship spells big trouble

02/18/2014
Don’t let biased notions of who can marry whom poison your workplace.