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Employment Law

How not to handle a union movement

09/16/2013

It’s natural to feel betrayed and up­set if you have an open-shop workplace and find out some employees have invited outsiders to help organize a union. But if you handle the news badly, you may end up in the cross hairs of the NLRB before a single union vote is cast.

‘Co-workers ignored me’ is not enough evidence to support a discrimination case

09/12/2013

Some employees just aren’t very likable, and that can lead to workplace awkwardness. Co-workers may ignore their prickly colleagues and only deal with them when necessary. That’s OK as long as this mild ostracism does not spill over into ­discrimination.

White House under new pressure to pay interns

09/11/2013
A grassroots lobbying effort led by the Fair Pay Campaign is pushing employers to pay their interns, starting with the White House.

Your best bet for beating false allegations: Good records, consistently fair practices

09/10/2013
You can never predict which employee will sue and over what alleged wrong. That’s why the best approach is to focus on treating every employee fairly and consistently, applying your rules even-handedly.

Independent investigation key to clean terminations

09/10/2013
Before you terminate an employee for breaking a company rule, be sure that you have someone else look at the situation. Never rely strictly on the supervisor’s view of events.

Beware retaliation after employee complains

09/10/2013
Watch out if a supervisor suddenly gives a poor performance review to a previously good employee who has recently complained about discrimination. Unless you can clearly show that the employee’s performance was deteriorating, you might be setting yourself up for an otherwise avoidable retaliation lawsuit.

Courts bang the gavel: EEOC is out of order!

09/10/2013
It’s not often that the EEOC loses a lawsuit, but in recent weeks, the gavel has come down against the commission not once, but twice.

Returning from FMLA: Employee Right to Reinstatement

09/09/2013

The FMLA allows certain employees to take up to 12 weeks of leave from work each year. Employees who take FMLA leave are entitled to return to their former jobs, or at least an “equivalent” job in terms of pay, responsiblities and the like. What’s an equivalent postion? Here’s what the U.S. Department of Labor says about employees’ rights to reinstatement after FMLA leave …

Steps you should take to derail the FMLA leave abuse train

09/09/2013
Employers face several common struggles when employees take FMLA leave, but there are ways to combat FMLA abuse in the workplace.

Calling supervisor to complain about alleged racial slur is protected activity

09/09/2013
Employees are protected from retaliation for complaining about alleged discrimination. The complaint is considered protected activity. Something as simple as calling a supervisor to complain about a co-worker’s racial slur is protected.