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Employment Law

Be patient and scrupulously fair when dealing with litigious employee who has complained

10/12/2011

Employers will win in the long run if they exercise restraint and use patience when dealing with an employee who clearly is looking for a lawsuit. It will take work.

Loose lips, poor timing may spell FMLA trouble

10/12/2011

When it comes to reductions in force, employees on FMLA leave don’t have greater rights than those who haven’t taken FMLA leave. That means if an employer can show it would have chosen the FMLA leave-taker for termination even if she had been at work, there’s no FMLA violation. But employers that are sloppy about the RIF process may end up in court.

Document efforts to ease return from FMLA

10/12/2011
When employers get sloppy and don’t document their decision-making proc­­esses, things can get dicey. Consider what happens when an employee experiences work stress and starts taking FMLA and other leave. In one recent case, the employer was smart enough to carefully track its efforts to both accommodate an employee and get her back to work.

After suing for discrimination, firefighters’ sanity questioned

10/11/2011
A federal judge has ruled that two Pasco County firemen who are suing the county for discrimination must undergo mental fitness-for-duty examinations before they can return to work. The firemen failed to convince the judge that the examinations amounted to retaliation for filing suit against the county.

Get expert help drafting arbitration agreements

10/11/2011
Don’t give in to the temptation to save money by writing your own arbitration agreements or using a standard template available from many arbitration services. Instead, have your attorney review your organization’s unique needs and draft a custom agreement.

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

10/11/2011
The FMLA says that employers can run out the FMLA clock by counting paid time off against the 12-week entitlement. Smart employers make sure that employees understand that’s how it works. That way, employees won’t run out of leave and lose their jobs because they didn’t realize the clock was ticking.

FLSA administrative exemption doesn’t require employee to meet all examples in regulation

10/11/2011
Here’s some good news for employers that classify workers as exempt under the FLSA’s administration exemption: Contrary to what some attorneys have been attempting to argue, employees don’t have to perform all the functions listed in the DOL regulations, just one.

Crack down on moonlighting during FMLA leave

10/11/2011

Do you have employees who take intermittent FMLA leave to deal with their own health conditions? If so, you might worry that they sometimes abuse that leave by calling in when their condition supposedly flares up, only to go to work at a second job. Here’s how to handle that situation:

HR detective: How to solve the classic ‘he said/she said’ mystery

10/11/2011
It’s a mistake that’s all too common: An employer investigating harassment claims or other workplace infraction fails to act when the inquiry bumps up against a “he said/she said” wall. There are four factors critical to assessing witness credibility: demeanor, consistency, chronology, and past history and motivations.

Mondays off for religious reasons: Is this legit?

10/11/2011
Q. We have an employee who claims to belong to a religious sect I have never heard of. Their alleged holidays always occur on Mondays. Do I have to give her these holidays off?