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Employment Law

Beware hasty discipline for FMLA leave-takers

02/15/2011

Even legitimate discipline against a lousy employee can spell FMLA trouble if somehow that discipline happens more quickly than it did for other employees with similar disciplinary problems. Advice: Take your time when disciplining workers who have taken FMLA leave. It’s better to be right than fast.

Office romance: Don’t ban it; manage it

02/15/2011

Valentine’s Day may have come and gone, but love might still linger in the air at your workplace. If so, watch out! When office romances sour, scorned lovers often turn to the courts to allege that a former lover was a sexual harasser. Here are three tips to help make sure Cupid’s arrow doesn’t harm your organization.

The key is consistency: Make sure similar infractions are subject to similar punishment

02/15/2011

Employees who break rules usually expect to be punished. But they also expect to be treated fairly. Most understand that employers shouldn’t punish one employee more harshly than someone else who committed the same infraction. And if that other employee belongs to a different protected class, savvy employees know that attorneys will be lining up for a chance to file a discrimination lawsuit.

How can I discipline exempt staff for poor work?

02/15/2011
Q. After the holidays, our hourly employees returned to pre-holiday productivity. But our exempt employees didn’t. What can I do since their salaries aren’t dependent on how many hours they work?

Employee out on FMLA leave? You can still insist on calling in

02/14/2011

Some employees think that once they are approved for FMLA leave, they don’t have to follow the same rules as other employees when they’re away from work. That’s not necessarily true. In fact, employers are free to create call-in policies that require employees who are going to be absent to phone daily—and they can include employees on FMLA leave in that policy.

Florida sued over floating minimum wage calculations

02/14/2011
In 2004, state voters approved linking the minimum wage to inflation. All went well for a few years, but now a lawsuit says the state got the math wrong two years ago.

Tampa investigation leads to multistate overtime settlement

02/14/2011
When U.S. Department of Labor investigators first looked into ready-mix cement truck drivers’ complaints in Tampa, they didn’t know the investigation would lead to a $1.5 million recovery for CEMEX employees in eight states.

Develop, implement and publicize policies that encourage employees to report harassment

02/14/2011

Here’s a big benefit to having a strong anti-harassment policy: The policy’s very existence helps protect employers against false claims. That’s because employees won’t be able to say they endured years of harassment and didn’t know how or to whom to report it. The key is making sure employees know about your policy.

Florida government agencies, contractors must use E-Verify

02/14/2011
One of Gov. Rick Scott’s first moves after taking office in January was to require all state agencies and contractors to use the federal government’s E-Verify online employment eligibility verification system for all its new hires. Scott’s move makes Florida the 14th state to adopt E-Verify for public employees, contractors or both.

Post all job openings to head off bias suits

02/14/2011

Save yourself lots of trouble by posting all open positions and telling employees exactly how to apply. When jobs aren’t posted and a member of a protected class misses out on a job opportunity, he or she can argue that the employer purposely hid the opening in order to exclude some individuals.