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Employment Law

‘Private’ email? Remind your employee that there’s no such thing!

05/13/2011
Make it clear with employees—early and often—that your electronic communications are not their private playground. Legally, it’s your organization’s property and you have the right to monitor every email as you wish.

At least try to accommodate religious needs

05/12/2011

Employers can’t just ignore it if an employee asks for time off as a religious accommodation. The better approach is to schedule the employee for work and wait for him to request time off for religious observances. Then carefully consider the request, and document your efforts and conclusions.

Do disabled workers have extra rights during layoff?

05/12/2011
Q. We have several temporary positions we must fill. A disabled applicant is qualified and we want to hire him but are worried we won’t be able to terminate him after the position ends. Are there any rules that require us to retain him?

If we buy another company, are we also buying the union that represents its employees?

05/11/2011
Q. We’re considering buying another company in the same industry. That company has a unionized workforce, and our executives are concerned because they don’t want to deal with a union. Otherwise, though, they are positive about this possibility … If we buy this company, will we have to deal with the union?

How can we help get a union decertified?

05/11/2011
Q. A few employees have told me recently they are fed up with their union and would like to get rid of it. How can I help them? We’d be glad to get rid of the union, too.

Are you ready for the EEOC’s enforcement crackdown?

05/11/2011
The EEOC received a record 99,922 charges in the 2010 fiscal year—the most the agency has received in its 45-year history. Given this sharp increase in charge activity, now is a good time to review your personnel policies and practices to make sure you’re taking appropriate steps to help prevent potential dis­crimination claims.

Minneapolis Convention Center faces discrimination charges

05/11/2011
Six former employees of the Min­ne­apolis Convention Center are suing, alleging the center discriminates based on age and race. Their lawsuit says minority and older workers were held to different standards than other employees.

MDHS, state retirees settle age bias complaint

05/11/2011
The Minnesota Department of Human Services has agreed to pay more than $467,000 to settle an age discrimination complaint filed by retired staffers.

Wind farm accident fans huge OSHA fines

05/11/2011
After an electrical worker suffered severe burns while working on an Illinois wind turbine, OSHA cited the Minnesota company that owns the facility for six willful safety violations.

Vague comments and complaints aren’t protected

05/11/2011
On occasion, an employee may be too embarrassed to directly confront sexual harassment. Instead, she may complain to a supervisor about unspecified problems. If the complaints are vague and wouldn’t cause a reasonable person to understand the issue of sexual harassment, the employee will have a hard time winning a lawsuit.