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Employment Law

Offended employee must report ongoing harassment

03/25/2013
Employers that discipline employees who make racially offensive comments have done what’s required of them. Unless they hear about a recurrence, it’s safe to assume the problem was solved.

Court refuses to help pro se litigant after EEOC, attorneys reject her case

03/25/2013
Here’s some good news for em­ployers frustrated with former employees who file groundless discrimination lawsuits. Judges are increasingly unwilling to bend over backward to enable lawsuits that look like sure losers by assigning court-appointed attorneys.

Your obligation to accommodate religion begins when employee requests it

03/25/2013

If employees don’t ask for religious accommodations, then there’s no need to worry about special schedules. That’s because your obligation to accommodate religious needs begins when an employee asks for accommodation. If he never requests a schedule change, you don’t need to do anything.

Use consistent approach, interview checklists in hiring process

03/25/2013

Hiring gets harder when a dozen or more applicants meet your minimum requirements. How do you pick the best candidate and reduce the chance of unhappy job-seekers filing discrimination lawsuits? The best approach is an organized one.

Golf firm finds hazard of missing paydays

03/25/2013
The DOL has ordered Charlotte’s Carolina Trail Golf Part­­ners to immediately tee up $758,465 in back wages for 347 workers at seven courses who recently went several weeks without getting paid.

Beware discrimination in contract bidding

03/25/2013
Before rejecting the lowest bid for a public project, many government agencies run background checks on the bidders. It’s critical to be fair and even-handed about those checks, making sure you don’t cherry-pick negative information.

Track ADA accommodation discussion and offers

03/25/2013
The ADA accommodations process must also be ongoing—and it doesn’t necessarily end with the first accommodation. But sometimes, a disabled employee can become unreasonable as time passes. You may decide to revoke an accommodation or refuse to modify it. If he sues, clear documentation showing what you did over the years can mean winning the lawsuit.

DOL issues final FMLA regs addressing military leave

03/25/2013
Final regulations issued by the Department of Labor implement the FMLA’s military exigency and caregiver leave provisions and make some additional clarifying changes to the FMLA regs in general.

When do long-term consultants become employees?

03/21/2013
Q. We have some paid consultants who have been working for us for two years. Are there any ramifications if we refer to these consultants as “staff” and enter them in a national database as our staff?

California Supreme Court: ‘Mixed-motive’ applies in FEHA cases

03/20/2013
The California Supreme Court has issued a long-awaited decision on whether the “mixed-motive” de­­fense applies to employment discrimination claims under the California Fair Em­­ployment and Housing Act (FEHA).