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Employment Law

When misbehavior demands termination, it’s best to stick with one reason for firing

06/10/2011
Here’s an important reminder to heed when you must discipline employees: If an employee commits a major rule violation that justifies termination, rely on that reason alone. Resist the temptation to pile on additional reasons. It may make defending a lawsuit that much easier.

Can your practices withstand EEOC scrutiny? Use its standards to check hiring bias

06/10/2011
Even one employee’s complaint to the EEOC can launch a massive investigation into your hiring practices. That’s true even if the initial complaint didn’t strictly concern hiring. That’s why you must proactively look for inadvertent discrimination in all your hiring and employment practices. Don’t wait for the agency to come snooping.

Is workers’ compensation dead in Illinois?

06/10/2011

An Illinois Senate committee has voted to end workers’ compensation as we know it. By a 9-6 vote, the Senate Executive Committee said it’s time to start over and eliminate what it called a “costly and failed” system.

Include summary of arb agreement in receipt

06/10/2011
If you require employees to accept arbitration as a condition of employment, you can include a brief statement describing the plan in an acknowledgment. As long as the acknowledgment shows that the employee may read the entire arbitration agreement before signing, it doesn’t matter whether she actually does.

OK to fire on basis of some taped phone calls

06/10/2011

Illinois has strict laws against recording telephone conversations without permission. But those laws allow recording if a party to the conversation believes a crime is being or is about to be committed. In some cases, that means you can use a recorded phone call as the basis for termination.

‘In our prayers’ condolences: Is it religious bias?

06/10/2011
Q. We send out a condolence card when one of our em­­ployees has a death in the family. We usually say something like, “Our thoughts and prayers are with you at this difficult time.” Now one of our employees has complained about the use of the word “prayer.” Do we need to change the message?

More OT lawsuits? There’s an app for that

06/09/2011
Last month, U.S. employees gained a powerful new tool to prove their wage-and-hour cases: the new “Timesheet” app for smartphones from the DOL’s Wage and Hour Divi­sion. Impact: This is more incentive for employers to accurately track employees’ actual hours worked—not just hours written on a time sheet.

Must we hold job for injured worker?

06/08/2011
Q. We have an employee who has been off work for more than 10 months because of a workers’ comp-covered injury. We have no idea when she may possibly be able to return to work. Are we absolutely required under the law to give this employee her job back whenever she believes she is ready to return to work, no matter how long she has been out?

Without a noncompete agreement, can we stop a former employee from undercutting us?

06/08/2011
Q. We just had a successful salesperson quit his job and join one of our major competitors. We did not, unfortunately, have him sign either a noncompete agreement or a confidential information agreement. We are very concerned that he may have taken, and may be using, some of our company’s confidential business information, including detailed customer information. Is there anything we can do about this situation, given the absence of any written contract?

Check your leave policies! EEOC looks at return-to-work issues

06/08/2011
Now is the time to review your return-to-work policies and practices for employees on leave. They need to be integrated without regard to the reason that prompted leave. Treating workers differently depending on the reason for their absence opens the possibility of a disability discrimination claim.