• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Employment Law

‘At-will’ in peril: Warn managers to never use ‘permanent’ when describing jobs

09/16/2011

Remind managers and supervisors involved in the hiring process never to use the term “permanent” when discussing a job. Doing so may give employees ammunition should they later claim they are not at-will workers. Best practice: Have employees sign an acknowledgment that their em­­ployment is at-will.

When executive wants to ease into retirement, can we insist on a ‘retirement contract’?

09/16/2011
Q. An executive wants to retire in one year and gradually reduce her schedule until then. Our business needs don’t allow us to have this executive role be part-time on a long-term basis. Can we approve this request on the condition that the executive sign an agreement binding her to retire within one year?

7 steps to help prevent and address workplace bullying

09/16/2011
We all knew schoolyard bullies, and, if we were lucky, they left us alone. Sadly, research indicates many workers are targets of “workyard” bullies. And workplace bullying comes with significant costs.

Electrolux redux: Ramadan schedules still in dispute

09/16/2011
Last year, Electrolux agreed to adjust its break schedule to accommodate Muslim employees working the evening shift at its St. Cloud plant. The EEOC mediated last year’s agreement in a process that was hailed as a model of cooperation between the employer, employees and the federal government. Problem solved, right? Not so fast.

EEOC targets Pine City firm for yet another ADA case

09/16/2011
For the second time since 2009, Product Fabricators is being charged with disability discrimination. Accord­­ing to an EEOC complaint, the Pine City-based sheet metal manufacturer fired an injured employee instead of accommodating him.

Planning layoffs? Check age demographics before and after proposed RIF

09/16/2011
Before you implement an involuntary reduction in force, make sure you determine whether you’re vul­­nerable to an age discrimination lawsuit. You can do this by seeing what percentage of the workforce was over age 40 before the planned layoff …

Consult your attorney for expert assistance on workers’ compensation disputes

09/16/2011

Employees who receive workers’ compensation payments for on-the-job injuries are assumed to have retired when they hit age 67. But a recent lawsuit argued that workers’ comp payments had to continue past that cutoff age because an employer had negotiated a legal settlement that didn’t specify that the payments would end at age 67. Fortunately, the Supreme Court of Minnesota has ruled otherwise.

Don’t want to budge on accommodations request? Plan on defending yourself in court

09/16/2011
Here’s an important reminder to pass along to managers and supervisors: Simply dismissing a disabled employee’s request for accommodations is folly unless it is crystal clear that no accommodation is possible.

3M to pay $3M to settle age bias suit

09/16/2011
Minnesota-based 3M has agreed to pay $3 million to 290 former em­­ployees to settle an EEOC lawsuit that claimed layoffs in 2003 and 2006 disproportionately targeted workers age 45 and older.

No free disability pass for insubordination

09/16/2011
Employers have the right to ex­­­pect everyone to behave ap­­pro­­pri­­ately at work. That includes employees with mental disabilities who may have trouble with communication and perception. What that means: You are free to punish inappropriate behavior regard­less of its cause.