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Employment Law

Obama’s second term: What it means for HR

11/21/2012
Now that the Obama administration is unshackled from an upcoming election, expect it to push hard for changes in workplace law that it failed to achieve in the first term. What does this mean for employment law? Here’s an outlook:

EEOC: 2012 job bias complaints remained near record high

11/20/2012

America’s economic struggles continued to fuel the job discrimination fire in 2012. Employees filed 99,412 charges of job discrimination with the EEOC in fiscal year 2012, only slightly fewer than in 2011. Get the latest stats and learn 10 steps for responding to an EEOC complaint.

Sick-day details on company calendar: Too risky?

11/20/2012

Disclosing on a company calendar that an employee is out because of sickness or FMLA leave is problematic. An employer should never disclose that absences are due to medical or health reasons. You must maintain the confidentiality of such information.

Fire if necessary: Complaining about bias doesn’t earn free pass to terrorize co-workers

11/19/2012
Don’t let past discrimination complaints by an obviously troubled employee keep you from ensuring workplace safety. Even vague threats can justify firing a potentially dangerous employee. Few judges will see that as retaliation.

Contractor or employee? 5 steps to keep you out of harm’s way

11/19/2012

How can you ensure that the IRS or state authorities won’t challenge the status of workers you call contractors? And how can you avoid being sued by a contractor who claims he’s an em­­ployee entitled to benefits? Follow these five steps.

Should we be paying overtime to employee who receives after-hours phone calls?

11/16/2012

Q. One of our office managers regularly receives after-hours calls from our landlord about building management issues. Are we required to pay her overtime compensation for the resulting hours she works over eight in one day or over 40 in one week?

DOL sues to gain access to Forever 21’s vendor records

11/16/2012
The U.S. Department of Labor’s new crackdown on alleged wage-and-hour abuses in the Southern California garment industry has resulted in its first legal action.

Of mice and Muslims: EEOC sues UPS for bias

11/16/2012
The EEOC is suing UPS for race and religious discrimination and retaliation, alleging a Muslim of Jordanian descent working at the company’s San Bruno hub was subjected to physical and verbal harassment, including being called “Dr. Bomb,” “al-Qaida” and “Taliban.”

$1 million settlement ends bias suit at Delano hospital

11/16/2012
Delano Regional Medical Center has agreed to pay almost $1 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the EEOC and the Asian Pacific American Legal Center on behalf of a group of Filipino-American workers.

Contractor arbitration pact doesn’t always preclude court

11/16/2012

Employers that engage independent contractors sometimes require them to sign an agreement stipulating that any disputes over the contract must be settled through arbitration, not in court. However, having such an agreement doesn’t mean a court can’t decide whether those workers are, in fact, independent contractors or employees.