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Employment Law

Good record-keeping, constant contact are key to successful FMLA administration

03/04/2011

Smart employers carefully track FMLA leave and make sure employees know their rights. That includes warning employees when their leave is about to expire and explaining their options for returning or requesting additional time off. By keeping employees informed and meticulously tracking all conversations, you make it harder for someone to successfully sue you.

Texas deadlines tighter than Ledbetter Act’s

03/04/2011
A Texas appeals court has ruled that the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 doesn’t change the deadline for filing a claim under the Texas Labor Code. Employees still have to use the pay decision date as the start of the filing deadline.

Statewide anti-gay bias bill introduced in Legislature

03/04/2011
Texas state Rep. Mike Villarreal (D-San Antonio) has filed a bill that would prohibit Texas employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

Tell bosses: Don’t play doctor with the FMLA

03/04/2011

When an employee asks for and is granted FMLA leave, absences that occur during the approved leave can’t be held against him. That includes days when he might be able to work but, according to doctors, shouldn’t do so. According to a Texas court, that means employers can’t retroactively assess absenteeism points during FMLA leave.

The HR I.Q. Test: March ’11

03/04/2011
Test your knowledge of recent trends in employment law, comp & benefits and other HR issues with our monthly mini-quiz …

What’s wrong with this picture? You be the judge

03/03/2011
How many contemporary employment law violations can you spot in this 1860s ad for the Pony Express?

Dirty Dozen: 12 manager mistakes that spark lawsuits

03/03/2011
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Unions in the spotlight: What employers can and can’t do

03/01/2011
The labor relations tug-of-war in Wisconsin—pitting state government against unionized public employees—could go either way. It might sound the death knell of organized labor. Or it could spur renewed organizing by labor unions in all employment sectors. If your workers suddenly expressed an interest in union representation, would you know how to react?

Can you refuse to hire candidates who are currently unemployed?

03/01/2011
You may have seen it in the classifieds: “Must be currently working.” Is that legal? Some state legislatures want to prohibit “unemployment discrimination.” And given the nature of post-recession America’s out-of-work population, there may be an even more compelling reason not to exclude the unemployed.

How to make the leap to electronic HR records

03/01/2011
Many employers are making the leap to “paperless” HR. Digital records are easy to access and cheap to archive. But despite the many benefits of electronic records storage, a host of legal problems could derail even the best-intentioned digital records plan. Here are the issues to consider before you make the transition.