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Employment Law

Even after Walmart, some class-actions are legit

02/15/2012
Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed a class-action sex discrimination claim brought by thousands of female Walmart employees. Now the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has clarified how far the decision goes in class-action wage-and-hour cases.

Make sure you can justify salary differences

02/15/2012

These days, employees are getting braver about discussing their pay. Part of the reason is that the National Labor Relations Board has done a good job publicizing its stance that discussing pay is concerted activity protected by law. Be prepared for the inevitable lawsuits with solid reasons for all pay decisions.

Handle serial complainer with the same professional skill you use with everyone else

02/15/2012
Handle serial complainers as you do one-time complainers. Investigate the claims, fixing legitimate gripes and rejecting all the rest. If the chronic complainer sues, chances are the court will realize that you’ve been dealing with someone who is habitually crabby.

More than just paper: Sexual harassment policy won’t work without supervisor training

02/15/2012
Employers can create all the anti-harassment policies they want and still end up liable for sexual har­­ass­­ment. The key to a successful policy is action. The policy must work. And the policy won’t work if supervisors ignore it or aren’t trained how to implement it.

FMLA: Count reduced-hours accommodation

02/15/2012
Here’s something to consider when you approve a disabled employee’s request for a reduced work schedule as a reasonable accommodation: You can count the hours not worked against her FMLA entitlement.

Franco’s first director role: a legal comedy

02/14/2012
What’s weirder: Actor James Franco earning a D in a drama class, or a NYU professor alleging he got fired for ­giving Franco the lousy grade?

Policies are key to handling workplace romance

02/14/2012
Romance may be in the air at your workplace this Valentine’s Day. A 2011 survey by CareerBuilder.com found that 40% of those polled said they have dated a co-worker. But while Cupid shoots arrows, workplace romances often blow up in a liability minefield.

DOL releases updated FMLA forms

02/13/2012
The U.S. Department of Labor has released new updated FMLA certification and notification forms used by employers. The forms expire in May 2018.

Whistle-blowing AirTran pilot wins reinstatement, $1 million

02/13/2012
OSHA has ordered Orlando-based AirTran to pay $1 million in damages after it found the airline retaliated against a pilot reporting safety problems.

Second race charge rises for Panera

02/13/2012
A company that operates Panera Bread stores in Florida faces an additional lawsuit charging racial discrimination in the wake of a manager’s suit that claims he was fired for refusing to follow a racist directive from the store’s owner.