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

Employment Law

How should we handle a termination when both the FMLA and short-term disability are in play?

11/24/2010
Q. We run FMLA and short-term disability (STD) concurrently. FMLA is for 12 weeks of job-protected leave. STD is for 26 weeks, with proper medical documentation. At what point can we terminate an employee?

What’s this I hear about a ‘cooling-off’ period in layoffs involving severance pay?

11/24/2010
Q. Is there a law that requires a 45-day waiting period from the time employees are told they’ll be laid off until they receive the severance payment? My supervisor said it’s called a cooling-off period.

Can a small employer deny leave to an employee whose spouse is seriously ill?

11/24/2010
Q. One of our full-time employees took time off when her husband had a heart attack. We’re a small company with 30 employees. Management was very upset and wouldn’t let her take any paid time off and wouldn’t guarantee her position. She had accumulated several weeks of paid leave. Is it legal to keep her from taking paid time off to care for her husband?

After 40 years, OSHA enforcement about to get much tougher

11/24/2010

Get ready for much tougher enforcement under OSHA’s new Severe Violator Enforcement Program. The SVEP will concentrate OSHA’s resources on inspecting employers that have demonstrated indifference to their safety and health obligations by committing willful, repeated or failure-to-abate violations. Here’s what you need to know to prepare for this new workplace safety regime.

Philly nonprofit wins grant to fight immigration bias

11/24/2010
The Lutheran Children and Family Service of Eastern Pennsylvania is one of 13 recipients of U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) grant funds meant to aid victims of immigration discrimination. The grant was issued by the DOJ Civil Rights Division’s Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices.

Don’t be so quick to say ‘no’–seriously consider every ADA accommodation request

11/24/2010

Managers must resist the temptation to reject out of hand any employee request for reasonable accommodations. To do so would be a big mistake. The ADA requires employers to engage in an interactive process to determine if an employee is entitled to an accommodation and what that accommodation should look like.

When employee gripes about differing treatment, be prepared to document everything

11/24/2010
Occasionally, employees angrily complain that discrimination is the reason they’re being treated differently than other employees. But different treatment isn’t always discrimination, and in fact, it’s often easy to explain.

Harrah’s passes on diversity study, citing past litigation

11/24/2010
When the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board conducted a study this summer of employee diversity in the state’s casinos, Harrah’s Chester Casino and Racetrack refused to participate. The reason: Past lawsuit settlements forbade the company from discussing minority hiring and employment figures.

Warn bosses: Beware discouraging leave requests

11/24/2010

Whether it’s intentional or not, some supervisors send unmistakable signals that their subordinates had better not take time off unless it’s absolutely necessary. That can mean trouble. Employees who are too scared to ask for leave may later turn around and sue, alleging a deliberate effort to discourage them from taking advantage of the FMLA.

McDonald’s not lovin’ it after teen harassment settlement

11/24/2010

The owner of a McDonald’s franchise in Perth Amboy will pay $50,000 to settle an EEOC harassment lawsuit filed on behalf of a male teenager who once worked at the restaurant. The boy complained that an assistant store manager made lewd comments and inappropriately touched, hugged and even spanked him.