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Employment Law

Train and track to beat harassment lawsuits

12/23/2013
Employers aren’t required to prevent all harassment—just to stop it when it happens and take reasonable preventive steps. Two of those: Providing anti-harassment training to every employee and tracking who gets that training.

One supervisor slur typically won’t equal a ‘hostile’ workplace

12/20/2013
Courts don’t expect workplaces to be places of complete harmony. However, they do expect employers to take complaints seriously. They want to see that employees are disciplined when they make offensive comments.

Supremes brush off ACA constitutionality lawsuit

12/19/2013
The Affordable Care Act has likely survived its last wholesale legal challenge now that the U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 2 declined to hear an appeal by Liberty University contending that the law’s employer mandate is unconstitutional.

Don’t throw good money after bad: Sometimes it’s best to settle drawn-out cases

12/19/2013
Some lawsuits seem to drag on forever, especially when an em­­ployee’s lawyers endlessly demand access to company documents. Settling those cases for a modest sum may be the best approach if l­itigation is taking over and HR is so busy responding to discovery requests it can’t get other work done.

Use formal hiring and promotion process to protect against discrimination suits

12/18/2013
Job-seekers who know how to apply for open positions can’t claim discrimination unless they can also show they followed the process. At the same time, a standard process lets employers track applications and easily show a judge why someone didn’t get the job she sought.

Chronic complainer? Ignore her at your peril

12/18/2013
Handle every complaint the same way, no matter the source. Don’t fail to investigate just because an employee has cried wolf in the past.

OSHA to require electronic (and public) reporting of injuries

12/18/2013
A new proposed OSHA rule would require employers with 250 or more workers to submit their injury reports electronically for the first time. Plus, these reports would be posted online and made public.

OK to discipline worker who has complained, but be sure you can justify your decision

12/17/2013
Courts don’t want to tie management’s hands; they just want to protect employees from genuine retaliation. That’s why the standard for retaliation is anything that would dissuade a reasonable worker from complaining in the first place. Most minor discipline doesn’t reach that level.

Race discrimination: Using independent contractors won’t earn you amnesty

12/17/2013
Don’t assume that just because a worker is an independent contractor, he can’t sue you when his contract isn’t renewed. While he may not be able to sue under Title VII for various forms of discrimination, he can still sue for alleged racial discrimination under Section 1981 of the original Civil Rights Act.

Instead of laying off, can we redefine the job, pay?

12/17/2013
Q. Are there any laws that prohibit offering a new job description with a lower wage in place of a layoff?