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Employment Law

Remind supervisors: Constructive criticism is expected–not an excuse for employees to sue

09/02/2011

Some employees are overly sensitive. They may perceive punishment or discrimination in something the boss considers merely constructive criticism. Tell supervisors: Don’t shrink from offering criticism, even in the case of a high performer who otherwise has earned a good evaluation.

Are there perils in giving a pay raise in hopes of boosting employee performance?

09/02/2011
Q. About four months ago, we gave a pay raise to a marginal employee who is pregnant, in hopes that it would improve her job performance by boosting her morale. Unfortunately, her performance has gone from bad to worse. If we fire her for poor performance, can she successfully argue that the recent raise indicates that she was performing well and that our reason for terminating her was discriminatory?

Bill would expand FMLA for ‘parental bereavement’

09/02/2011
With divided government in Congress, gridlock reigns for most employment-law bills. One bill that has a slim chance: the Parental Bereavement Act, which would amend the FMLA to allow employees to take FMLA leave after the death of a child.

Ricoh must print out big check after harassment settlement

09/01/2011
The Greensboro office of Ricoh Elec­tronics has settled EEOC harassment and national-origin discrimination claims filed on behalf of three em­­ployees who claimed they had to en­­dure years of harassment and abuse—and then were fired for complaining.

Cut pay if warranted: It’s OK under FLSA

09/01/2011
The Fair Labor Standards Act grants many rights to workers, in­­cluding the right to overtime pay for working more than 40 hours in a workweek. It does not, however, prevent employers from lowering hourly wages if they choose to do so.

Don’t micromanage store managers

09/01/2011
Want to keep exempt status in place for your store managers? One key is to make sure regional managers don’t micromanage the store. Giving store managers autonomy helps show they truly do have managerial authority.

Coddle repeat harasser at your own risk–you could be courting huge penalties

09/01/2011
If you have doubts about what you should do with a serial harasser, the following case should clear things up.

Authorize managers to act fast to remove offensive material from workplace

09/01/2011
Here’s a good way to stop needless sexual or other harassment claims: Empower even low-level supervisors to immediately remove any material anyone could consider even remotely offensive. The best outcome: Offensive material disappears before anyone has a chance to complain.

EEOC to N.C. janitorial firm: Clean up this debt!

09/01/2011
Access Services, a Charlotte-based janitorial services company, must ex­­plain to a judge why it failed to make court-ordered payments after it settled an EEOC discrimination lawsuit brought by a former employee.

Not every complaint is protected activity

09/01/2011

Some employees seem to believe that any complaint they make about their employer is protected activity. Thus, they may assume that any punishment they experience is retaliation worthy of a lawsuit. Fortunately, that’s not necessarily true.