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Employment Law

Contractor for short-term job: Good idea?

05/10/2012

Q. We want to bring on a worker to help finish up a contract that we have with a customer. The contract and work will end in a few months. To ease in setting this up and to avoid any long-term commitment, I’d like to hire the individual as a contractor and not an employee. Can I do this?

FedEx pays $3 million to settle hiring bias charges

05/10/2012
FedEx Ground has agreed to pay $3 million to resolve allegations by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) that the company’s hiring practices were discriminatory.

Delta agrees to OSHA’s baggage-cart seat belt plan

05/10/2012
Delta Airlines has entered into a two-year settlement agreement with OSHA to install seat belts on all company baggage-handling vehicles. An OSHA inspection following an em­­ployee death led to the agreement.

Remind supervisors to err on the side of caution when employee claims medical emergency

05/10/2012
When supervisors act out of anger or ignorance, the result is seldom good.

Suspect relative’s illness is used to game FMLA? If true, you’re free to discipline or terminate

05/10/2012

The FMLA allows employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a parent with a serious health condition. But it’s not unheard of for employees to take advantage of the FMLA by getting time off, but then not spend it caring for mom or dad. If you learn that your employee is cheating the system, feel free to discipline him.

Don’t fall into the retaliation trap: Handle ‘toxic’ worker’s complaint with care

05/10/2012

Some employees are nothing but trouble. They complain constantly, and even gripes that might have some merit are often exaggerated. However, you must think twice before you summarily terminate such an employee. Reason: You could be falling straight into a retaliation trap. Treat such toxic workers with care.

How to handle partial-day absences under FMLA

05/10/2012
Sometimes, an employee needs just a few hours of FMLA leave, for example, to make a doctor’s appointment or to drive a relative to treatment. The employee may find it more convenient to take the entire day off, but you don’t have to allow it. Should the employee not return after the appointment, you are free to treat the absence as unauthorized.

If employee’s PTO is gone, can we dock his pay?

05/10/2012

Q. During our introductory period, new hires accrue PTO but they can’t use it until after six months. Can we dock an exempt employee’s pay if he wants a vacation day or sick day during this time? Or, after the six-month period, if an exempt employee has exhausted his PTO accrual, can he be docked pay?

DOL targets South Florida migrant labor practices

05/09/2012
The U.S. Department of Labor has filed two lawsuits against contractors providing workers to South Florida farms, following investigations into migrant laborers’ working conditions.

It’s not bias: Set cutoff date for receiving applications

05/09/2012
Protect your company by tracking when you received each completed job application. You can easily justify a cut-off point, based on the order in which you received complete applications.