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Employment Law

EBSA sours on Sunkist’s retirement fund accounting

01/03/2014
A U.S. Department of Labor Em­­ployee Benefit Security Admin­­is­­tra­­tion (EBSA) investigation has revealed that Sunkist Growers and its fiduciaries improperly used retirement plan funds to pay salaries and benefits for several employees and managers.

No whistle-blowing if safety rule was unwritten

01/03/2014
The Pennsylvania Whistleblower Law protects employees of government agencies or employers that receive state funding from retaliation for reporting wrongdoing or waste. But the protection doesn’t extend to complaints about unwritten safety rules.

Accommodation delayed may be accommodation denied

01/03/2014
Act fast on reasonable accommodations requests. Lengthy delays may be viewed as an outright denial of accommodations.

Fair is fair: Before you fire, give employee a chance to tell her side of the story

01/03/2014
Want to look good to a judge? Then take the extra time to let employees tell their side of the story before you fire them.

Periodic depression may not be ADA condition

01/03/2014
Do you have an employee who sometimes becomes depressed and needs FMLA leave on an intermittent basis to deal with flare-ups? If so, he’s not necessarily disabled under the ADA.

OK to discipline disabled worker for rule-breaking

01/03/2014
Don’t worry that you can’t discipline disabled workers—if you can show that you punish all em­­ployees equally for breaking the same rule. An employee’s disability is irrelevant as long as you don’t cut slack for other employees while punishing the disabled worker.

Pennsylvania anti-bias agency sued for race bias

01/03/2014
The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC) is getting a taste of its own medicine. A candidate for the position of PHRC executive director has filed a lawsuit claiming that the commission—which investigates discrimination charges—is guilty of being racially biased.

A hairy problem: Cut biased grooming rules

01/03/2014
Here’s a warning about general grooming standards and disciplining employees over their hairstyle choices: Make sure you apply the same standards to all employees and don’t end up forbidding members of a particular protected class to wear hairstyles that are OK for other workers.

Charlotte Burger King site of protest for higher pay

01/03/2014
Charlotte was one of several cities where fast food workers staged November protests calling for higher wages. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) organized the protests to spotlight the low wages many in the fast food industry receive.

OSHA launches online whistle-blower complaint form

01/03/2014
OSHA now offers whistle-blowers an online complaint form. Until now, whistle-blowers had to either write or call OSHA. The online form is designed to provide workers who have been retaliated against an additional way to reach out for OSHA assistance.