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Employment Law

If FMLA will soon expire, start interactive ADA process

10/12/2011

If you immediately fire employees who have used up their FMLA leave—without considering whether they may be disabled and need reasonable ADA accommodations—you may be making a big mistake. Instead, let the employee know you want to begin the interactive accommodations process right before FMLA leave runs out.

Minor concentration problems don’t count as disabilities

10/12/2011
In today’s world of work, lots of em­­ployees experience stress, which sometimes manifests itself in panic or anxiety attacks or problems concentrating. But that does not mean the employee is disabled.

Court takes novel approach to limit frivolous appeals–making employees pay legal fees

10/12/2011
Many frivolous lawsuits are filed by individuals who represent themselves—and who are so poor that they are exempt from paying filing fees. Courts are now refusing to allow appeals without payment of those fees if it seems clear the appeal would be brought in bad faith.

Employee said he would do work free? You must still comply with the FLSA

10/12/2011
The Fair Labor Standards Act has been around for many decades, but some em­­ployers still think they can circumvent the inconvenient truth that they must pay employees for their labor. If some of your managers share this mis­­conception, the following case may make them change their minds.

Keep close tabs on your head count: Volunteers may be ’employees’ under Title VII

10/12/2011
Don’t think you have enough employees to be covered by Title VII’s anti-discrimination provisions or other laws? If volunteers help your organization accomplish its work and you don’t count them, think again.

Super-sized customer steamed at White Castle restaurants

10/12/2011
Little booths and big customers may not be the best combination. A 290-pound man is suing the Columbus-based White Castle burger chain, claiming he suffered embarrassment and injured his knee when he tried to squeeze into a booth in a restaurant in New York.

Track promotion applications to check for bias

10/12/2011
You can’t be sure there’s no hidden bias in your promotion process unless you check. Conduct your own informal investigation so you’ll be prepared for possible litigation. That way, if you find a problem, you can fix it before things get out of hand.

Ensure that arbitration agreements are clear

10/12/2011

Employers may be sold on the advantages of arbitration over litigation and want to give the proc­ess a try. But if they don’t do it just right, chances are they’ll end up spending more time and money. That’s because employees may go to court to challenge an employer’s right to arbitration, adding what amounts to a second lawsuit to the underlying complaint.

What are the pitfalls of conducting background investigations on job applicants?

10/12/2011
Q. We use an outside company to conduct criminal background checks on applicants. The company asked us if we were interested in having it conduct searches on applicants’ past civil claims. Is that something we should do?

Parenting leave: To whom must notice be given, and can we require use of vacation leave?

10/12/2011
Q. I have a couple of questions about the parenting leave. We have 33 employees, so we are not subject to the FMLA. Can we require an employee to give ad­­vance notice of the need for leave to HR instead of the employee’s supervisor? Also, can we require em­­ployees to substitute paid vacation days while on leave?