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Employment Law

How to avoid age bias when talking retirement

12/31/2013

Supervisors and HR walk a legal tightrope when discussing retirement plans with aging workers. If it appears you’re pushing an employee out the door based on his age, you’ll be setting yourself up for an age discrimination lawsuit.

ADA: Essential Functions

12/31/2013

HR Law 101: An employer needn’t hire a disabled person if he or she lacks the requisite skills, experience and education for the job in question. But if the deciding factor is the disability, you must prove that the condition interferes with what the ADA terms the “essential functions” of the job …

ADA: Reasonable Accommodation

12/30/2013

HR Law 101: Under the ADA, a “reasonable accommodation” enables a qualified individual with a disability to perform the job’s essential functions. But an accommodation is considered unreasonable when it causes the employer an undue hardship …

U.S. Supreme Court: 5 key HR law questions to be answered in 2014

12/27/2013
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a number of cases during the 2013-14 term that could affect employers. Look for decisions before the term ends in June.

Revised federal subpoena rules reduce travel burden

12/25/2013
New federal subpoena rules that took effect Dec. 1 mean that employers may not have to travel so far to give depositions in civil lawsuits or testify in out-of-state trial courts.

Slay the wage-and-hour dragon before it breathes class-action fire

12/24/2013
Employers increasingly understand the financial burden of defending wage-and-hour class-action lawsuits—not to mention possible settlement payments or damages following un­­suc­­cessful attempts to defend those suits. There are some practical steps you can take to dodge the threat of a costly class-action lawsuit.

‘New’ paid family leave arrives this summer

12/24/2013
More California employees will be eligible to take paid family leave starting July 1. That’s when grandparents, grandchildren, siblings and parents-in-law will be added to the list of relatives for whom caregiver leave is authorized.

L.A. approves $1.5 million police harassment settlement

12/24/2013
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has approved a settlement payment of nearly $1.5 million to LAPD Officer Earl Wright, signaling the end of the city’s long legal fight with the veteran cop, who sued for racial harassment.

Warn bosses: No griping about pregnancy-related absences

12/24/2013

Some bosses openly resent it when subordinates announce that they’re pregnant. Warn them to never do or say anything that indicates anger, disappointment or annoyance.

Negotiating union contracts: Seek attorney’s help when drafting arbitration clause

12/24/2013
While having a union in the workplace may not be ideal, having a union contract in place clarifies many of the work rules your employees must follow, as well as how your disciplinary process must work.