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

Employment Law

Keep it Legal: Offer can’t be revoked for disability nondisclosure

09/27/2024
Most employers have a stipulation that specifies lying on an application as a dischargeable offense—a rule meant to prevent résumé fraud. But don’t apply it to someone who didn’t reveal a disability that you will have to reasonably accommodate.

Take employee misconduct complaints seriously, for their sake and yours

09/27/2024
Employers would love it if unacceptable behavior never happened in their workplace. Unfortunately, few work environments escape problems. Effective leaders realize their actions during such critical times play a huge role in employee relations going forward.

How to write a data-collection policy

09/23/2024
We already know we participate in a surveillance economy. It may be worse than you think. Payroll collects a lot of data from employees and is being asked to do a lot more with it. Maybe it’s time for a data-collection policy.

Provide any form of short-term leave? Better cover military leave, too

09/20/2024
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act requires employers that provide any form of short-term leave to also grant leave to members of the National Guard and military reserves so they can take time off for training or short deployments. In doing so, the 9th Circuit joined several other federal circuits in finding that USERRA requires employers to provide such leave.

Federal appeals court affirms: Overtime salary test is valid

09/20/2024
Ruling in Mayfield v. DOL, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a challenge by a Texas restaurateur who argued that nothing in the Fair Labor Standards Act gave the DOL the authority to base overtime pay on anything except the kind of work employees perform.

Fired whistleblower triggers wide-ranging investigation

09/19/2024
An employee of a day care center who raised health concerns about the center’s kitchen will receive $43,295 in back pay. But it may cost the employer far more.

Who can sue you if employees work remotely?

09/19/2024
The Fair Labor Standards Act sets nationwide standards for wage-and-hour compliance and also allows employees to bring collective lawsuits against their employers for FLSA violations. Can employees who work remotely in far-flung states join together in one lawsuit and sue their employer?

FTC can’t enforce its ban on noncompete agreements

09/19/2024
Janitors, security guards and fast-food employees probably shouldn’t be required to sign noncompete agreements, but many are. Last spring, the Federal Trade Commission tried to remedy this by issuing final regulations banning most noncompete agreements. A federal trial court has now issued a nationwide injunction prohibiting the FTC from enforcing them.

Require supervisors to consult HR before removing reasonable accommodation

09/12/2024
Once an employer accepts and approves an employee’s request for a reasonable accommodation, it has essentially agreed that an accommodation was warranted. Think twice before removing that accommodation!

Blue-collar classification: Manual work isn’t exempt, even when paid on salary basis

09/12/2024
Sometimes, it’s difficult to make the exempt/nonexempt classification call. One thing that’s certain, however, is that paying on a salary basis does not convert nonexempt employees into exempt employees.