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Employment Law

Transgender restroom flap escalates to lawsuit

07/13/2011
When Meggan Summerville had to go to the restroom one day on her job at a Hobby Lobby store in Aurora, she used the ladies’ room—and was reprimanded for it. The problem, as far as her boss was concerned, is that Summerville was born Mark Summer­ville and is transitioning from male to female.

ADA: Now AutoZone has the pain in the neck

07/13/2011
A federal jury has returned a $600,000 verdict against AutoZone, ruling that the auto parts chain’s Macomb store violated the ADA when it refused to accommodate a sales manager’s request to be exempted from mopping floors due to a neck injury.

7th Circuit clamps down on deadbeat serial litigant

07/13/2011
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has barred a woman from filing any new civil lawsuits or renewing old ones anywhere in the circuit until she pays fines various courts have already levied.

Employee isn’t completely reliable? OK to consider that when making promotion decisions

07/13/2011

Sometimes, it becomes clear early on that you can’t count on a new employee. He begins missing work or simply isn’t available when you call him in for extra hours. Most supervisors who find themselves in that situation will just call a more reliable employee instead. That’s perfectly fine in most cases.

Factor in employee discretion when tech changes start to affect FLSA classifications

07/13/2011
As the world of work becomes more technologically driven, some employees are seeing their job responsibilities change. Those jobs may then change from hourly to exempt under the FLSA.

Illinois’ new school-reform law enacted with union backing

07/13/2011

Capping what State House officials called a “collaborative model for other states to follow,” Gov. Pat Quinn signed an education overhaul bill that makes it easier for school districts to fire teachers and strips many seniority protections teachers had. Setting the new legislation apart is the support it garnered from the powerful Chicago Teachers Union.

Base FMLA eligibility on date leave begins

07/13/2011

Employees have to give 30 days’ notice before taking FMLA leave. That means some employees may ask for FMLA leave before they are actually eligible. For example, an employee may request time off for a serious health condition when he still has a few hours more to work before hitting the one-year or 1,250-hour milestone. Employers can’t deny the request merely because it was made before the employee became eligible.

FMLA policy: How do I draft it if few are eligible?

07/13/2011
Q. Our company has 250 employees in eight states, but we have FMLA eligible employees in only one state. As I rewrite our employee handbook, I will include the mandatory FMLA language. However, I would like some input on what type of policy, if any, to include for non-FMLA eligible employees.

DOL cracks down! Are your classifications FLSA-compliant?

07/12/2011
In the past year, the U.S. Department of Labor has renewed its focus on combating employee misclassification, and there has been a recent significant increase in the number of wage-and-hour lawsuits. In many of these cases, workers are challenging their designation as exempt employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Can we give paid time off as a bonus to some?

07/11/2011
Q. One of the owners suggested that paid time off for employees should not be a set benefit, but a bonus. Can we just award paid time off as a bonus to some employees and not to others?