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Employment Law

Health system consultants gain class-action status in FLSA suit

08/08/2011
A New York court has granted class-­action status to a lawsuit filed by ben­efits consultants at a subsidiary of the WellCare health system, who allege they were misclassified as exempt.

Inadvertent segregation? Be able to explain why

08/08/2011
Here’s a caution about workplace logistics such as office assignments, work schedules and other supervisor actions that members of a particular protected class could view as hostile: If the result is any kind of workforce “segregation,” make sure you have a good underlying business reason that has nothing to do with race, sex, etc.

Ban class actions in arbitration agreements

08/08/2011

If your arbitration agreement is more than a year old, chances are it needs updating. That’s especially true if the contract doesn’t specifically ban class-action arbitrations. As a recent 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals decision shows, leaving out that prohibition could prompt an arbi­trator to treat one employee’s complaint as a class action covering many employees.

Base FMLA eligibility on date leave begins, not date employee requests it

08/08/2011
Some employees—seeing their FMLA eligibility on the horizon—may ask for FMLA leave before they’ve actually hit the one-year and 1,250-hour eligibility milestones. That’s OK. Remember, employers can’t deny an employee’s FMLA re­­quest simply because it was made before the employee became eligible.

New DOL rule: Report agreements with your lawyer

08/05/2011
Business groups aren’t pleased with new U.S. Department of Labor proposed changes to the so-called “persuader” regulations under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act. They say the changes will restrict access to legal counsel and make it easier for unions to organize.

3 million reasons not to ‘get revenge’ on complaining worker

08/04/2011

Do your supervisors know it’s illegal to lash out at or get revenge on em­­ployees who voice legal complaints? While race discrimination has historically been the most popular employee discrimination claim with the EEOC, retaliation took over the top spot last year. A recent $3 million jury verdict shows how America is becoming Retaliation Nation.

Can your workplace withstand EEOC scrutiny? Run a self-audit

08/03/2011
The EEOC has an inde­pendent right to investigate discrimination claims and can expand investigations well beyond any initial complaint. For that reason, it’s important to pro­­actively look for inadvertent discrimination in all your hiring and em­­ployment practices. Don’t wait for the EEOC or a state anti-bias agency to come snooping around.

Worker lost $700: Can we make him pay it back?

08/02/2011
When an employee loses company property or money, what recourse do employers have to recoup their loss? It depends on the applicable state wage law … and on whether you believe the “loss” was really accidental.

Must we make employees available to EEOC investigators?

08/01/2011
Q. A former employee recently filed an EEOC complaint against our company alleging race discrimination. As part of its investigation, the agency will be coming to our offices to interview employees. Do I have to make the employees available? As the HR director, should I sit in on the employee interviews?

‘Can we talk?’: How to handle requests for secrecy

08/01/2011

Say one of your employees stops by your office with a troubled look on her face. She has a complaint, but wants to speak with you “off the record.” Can you comply with her request for confidentiality? Should you? It all depends on the content and context of the complaint.