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Employment Law

Background checks: How safe is too safe?

01/11/2013

Q. We are considering instituting a criminal background check policy for all employee positions. We’ve heard scary stories of lawsuits regarding negligent hiring, and we’d really like to avoid that sort of litigation, not to mention the negative media attention. Is there any downside to having an “across the board” criminal background check policy?

Do we need to track hours for pieceworkers?

01/11/2013

Q. We are doing an internal review of our recordkeeping, and we realized that we track hours for our on-site transcriptionists but we have not been tracking the hours for our transcriptionists who work from home. The on-site employees are non­exempt and we pay them an hourly wage. However, the remote employees are paid piece rates—a certain rate for the number of words transcribed from dictation. Do we have to keep track of their hours?

Orchestra musicians refuse to dance to ballet’s tune

01/11/2013

A labor dispute forced the Minnesota Dance Theatre to use recorded music instead of a live orchestra for December’s holiday presentation of “The Nutcracker” ballet. According to the union representing Twin Cities classical musicians, the sticking point wasn’t monetary, but artistic.

Defense firm pays $100,000 to settle race bias claim

01/11/2013
Aerospace and defense contractor ATK has agreed to pay a job applicant $100,000 after she complained about discriminatory hiring practices at the company’s Eden Prairie plant.

Some small employers may be exempt from the FLSA

01/11/2013
If your business is small enough and local enough (meaning you don’t produce goods for interstate sale or perform work outside your own state), you may not have to follow the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

OK to cut returning veteran’s job if decision wasn’t based on military status

01/11/2013
Generally, members of the military released from active duty service are entitled to return to their former jobs. But what happens if bad economic times force a layoff before the em­­ployee returns to work? Is he exempt from the cuts?

Employee has routine gripe about timekeeping? That’s not necessarily protected activity

01/11/2013
Employees who question your timekeeping process may be setting you up for an FLSA lawsuit. How you respond may make the difference between winning and losing. If you promptly fix what turns out to have been an innocent mistake, the court probably won’t consider the original complaint protected activity.

Consider more leave, different job as ADA accommodation after FMLA leave expires

01/11/2013
When an employee works in a demanding position and has a medical crisis, he may not be able to return quickly to his old job. It’s en­­tirely possible he may use all available FMLA leave and other accrued leave and still receive clearance to work. That doesn’t mean his employer isn’t obligated to try to reasonably accommodate him.

Deciding not to hire, note specific reasons why

01/11/2013
You never know which unsuccessful job applicant will sue. That’s why it is crucial to internally document why you rejected a candidate. Bonus: You can also use the information for an informal internal audit to make sure a hiring manager isn’t inadvertently discriminating.

Beware double standard against working moms

01/11/2013
Here’s an important reminder that it takes just one Nean­der­thal boss to launch a lawsuit: Treat­­ing working mothers differently than working fathers is sex discrimination. Never turn a blind eye if you hear a super­visor is doing just that.