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Employment Law

When employee complains about bias, take control ASAP to prevent retaliation

12/07/2011

When an employee complains about perceived discrimination, how you treat the worker can greatly affect the outcome if the case reaches court. The best approach: Handle the case professionally, at the HR function level.

Conscientious objector vs. his military employer

12/07/2011
A company whose business is maintaining and repairing U.S. Navy equipment has agreed to settle with an employee who said his religious convictions prevented him from working on “weapons of war.”

When co-workers clash, offer transfer option

12/07/2011
Personality clashes almost always affect work, and inevitably one of the combatants will file a formal complaint. Defuse that tension by suggesting that one or both co-workers transfer to other positions. Offering the transfer option to warring co-workers isn’t an ad­­verse action as long as neither is forced to accept the offer.

Counting paid time off as FMLA leave? Tell worker you’re running them concurrently

12/07/2011
The FMLA says employers can run out the FMLA clock by counting paid time off against an employee’s 12-week leave entitlement. Make sure employees understand how that works. That way, employees won’t run out of leave and lose their jobs because they didn’t realize the FMLA clock was ticking.

The pregnant pause: How to respond to baby news

12/06/2011
“I’m pregnant!” … Two words that can make an employer cringe on the inside but smile on the outside. And even though the baby might not be kicking yet, you can be assured that pregnancy anti-discrimination laws have kicked in …

Required: Investigating all harassment complaints Not required: Providing a perfect workplace

12/05/2011
Sometimes an employee may feel uncomfortable with the close proximity and may even interpret another employee’s innocent behavior as sexual harassment. While you must respond to every sexual harassment complaint and investigate, that doesn’t mean each incident warrants corrective action. Use common sense.

Passage of time can kill retaliation claim

12/05/2011

There’s some good news for em­­ployers concerned about retaliation after an employee participates in protected activity such as testifying in another employee’s discrimination lawsuit. If a substantial amount of time has passed since the employee’s testimony, any disciplinary action you take probably won’t be enough to form the basis of a retaliation claim.

Employees can’t ‘volunteer’ to do extra work for free

12/05/2011

An hour worked must be an hour paid, according to the FLSA. For private employers, that means there’s no such thing as an employee putting in “volunteer” time. While the FLSA has been around for decades, some employers still think they can circumvent this inconvenient truth.

Your detailed records: Keys to legal victory

12/02/2011

You never know which employee will file a discrimination lawsuit. These surprise lawsuits often allege that the employer disciplined ­others outside the employee’s protected class less severely for the same transgression. Protect your organization by providing detailed reasons for any discipline at the time it occurs.

New Year, new laws covering veteran hiring, whistle-blowing

12/02/2011
Employers will ring in some new laws with the New Year, and those laws will bring challenges and opportunities.