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Employment Law

When handing out RIF pink slips, avoid age bias claims by offering good business reasons

05/25/2012
When a company reorganizes and consolidates several positions into one, the resulting reduction in force (RIF) may affect an older employee. The employee who loses a job may feel the real reason is age and that the employer took advantage of a RIF to eliminate older workers. You can structure your RIFs to avoid losing an age discrimination claim.

Workers’ comp claim? Resist urge to retaliate!

05/25/2012

The North Carolina Retaliatory Employment Discrimination Act outlaws discharging em­­ployees for filing workers’ compensation claims. It’s a protected activity. Equally illegal: Jumping the gun by firing employees before they ­actually fill out the workers’ compensation paperwork.

Is it OK for managers to adjust timecards?

05/24/2012

Q. Our employees punch a time clock and then go to job sites. Sometimes they don’t take a lunch break. But when they do, they’re unable to clock out and back in, so there’s no time record. Can a manager adjust the timecard by marking through the daily total and deducting the lunch time?

When register drawers are short, may we demand repayment out of cashiers’ pockets?

05/24/2012

Q. Management wants to institute a policy requiring cashiers whose registers are short at night’s end to replace the disputed amount out of their own pockets. Would that violate the law?

What should we do if we suspect employee is engaged in workers’ comp fraud?

05/24/2012

Q. While on unpaid leave, one of our employees applied for and was granted workers’ compensation. This person has not expressed any interest in returning to work. We think she may even be working somewhere else. Can we terminate her?

States take the lead in contractor misclassification crackdown

05/24/2012
The DOl  and IRS continue to aggressively enforce laws against misclassifying employees as independent contractors. But a major shift has taken hold in the past two years, with state legislatures and regulators actively taking a greater role in cracking down on companies that classify workers as contractors without properly documenting or structuring their relationships with those individuals.

Jury: He’s no whistle-blower, just an abusive manager

05/24/2012

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection said it fired Steve Barto from his job as an environmental group manager because he intimidated employees, used racial slurs and behaved erratically. When Barto sued the DEP for allegedly violating his civil rights, he painted a different picture.

Hiring preferences OK, not evidence of discrimination

05/24/2012
Not every hiring preference is evidence of discrimination. You can limit the number of applicants by setting parameters—such as considering current employees first.

Court carves out another age-bias class: Employees age 50 and older

05/24/2012
A federal court considering the question for the first time has concluded that workers over a certain age can challenge the disparate impact a reduction in force may have on that age group.

Think you solved harassment problem? Check back to make sure it really worked

05/24/2012

Let’s say one of your employees complains she’s been sexually harassed. If you conclude she may be right, it’s time to come up with an effective remedy. The harassment has to stop. If it doesn’t, it’s almost certain you will be sued. The key is following up with the complaining employee.