• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Employment Law

What are the pros and cons of offer letters?

03/29/2011
Q. We send formal offer letters to job candidates for certain positions. Could such letters legally bind us, and would we be smarter to avoid them?

Can we reduce pay for an exempt employee who works less because she is pregnant?

03/29/2011
Q. One of our salaried employees is pregnant. She brought in a doctor’s note that says she can work only six hours per day. Can I either reduce her pay or have her work six days a week?

Are we allowed to offer housing stipends to just some employees?

03/29/2011
Q. Is it legal to offer some employees, but not others, stipends to help with rent or lodging?

Who pays for uniform cleaning?

03/29/2011
Q. We require employees to wear uniforms. Can we deduct from their paychecks the money to pay for the uniform or clean it?

Acquiring another company? Buyer beware on employee benefits

03/29/2011
If your company ever acquires another company that has multiemployer pension or health benefit plan obligations through a union, beware. You could wind up being responsible for any delinquent contributions or underfunded benefit liabilities of the seller.

Somerset prison guard union talks headed to arbitration

03/29/2011
Forty Somerset County prison guards will continue to work under the terms of a contract that expired at the end of 2010 while they and the county take contract negotiations to arbitration. The county has asked the guards to accept concessions on either wages or health benefits.

Franklin County EMS head sues for bias, FMLA retaliation

03/29/2011
The former acting head of Franklin County’s emergency management agency has filed federal sex discrimination and hostile work environment charges against the county, alleging her working conditions were so severe she developed a serious health condition that required medical leave.

Chestnut Hill College fires professor-priest for being gay

03/29/2011

It seems administrators at Philadelphia’s Chestnut Hill College didn’t know one of their employees as well as they thought they did. The Rev. James St. George had been teaching Bible studies, theology and justice courses at the Catholic college since 2009. When St. George wrote in a blog posting that he is gay, the college fired him.

Be sure documentation clearly shows rule breaking

03/29/2011
Employees who are terminated often look for some underlying, illegal reason and sue. Smart employers focus on documenting clear rule violations that justify termination decisions.

Remind bosses: No negative talk about working moms

03/29/2011
When a young mother begins missing work, a manager may think she isn’t taking her career seriously enough. Expressing that sentiment may provoke your employee to sue.