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

Employment Law

Take all racial harassment complaints seriously

09/08/2010
When an employee complains about racial prejudice or harassment, don’t brush it off. Instead, act right away. Even a briefly hostile environment may mean a big award.

Punishing for accommodation request may be retaliation

09/08/2010
An employee who requests accommodations can sue for retaliation if he can show that his employer punished him for making the request.

Sued for counting FMLA against fired worker? Prove you planned to discharge anyway

09/08/2010
If you’re deciding whether to fire an employee for attendance problems (under a no-fault attendance policy, for example), you must make sure you aren’t counting FMLA leave against her. However, all is not lost if you accidentally add in an FMLA absence—as long as you can show you still would have fired the employee because of other attendance problems.

Minor annoyances aren’t retaliation, even after employee has lodged complaints

09/08/2010

Some employees are under the mistaken impression that if they complain about anything bad that happens at work, their employer can’t do anything to them, no matter what the circumstances. They think that anything negative the employer does after they complain must be retaliation. Fortunately, that’s not true.

Offer several ways to complain of harassment to guard against supervisor inaction

09/08/2010

The best sexual harassment policy sets up many ways for employees to lodge complaints. Here’s why: Sometimes low-level supervisors don’t take harassment as seriously as they should. If your sexual harassment policy tells employees to complain to their bosses without offering an alternative, they could become frustrated or angry. Plus, the alleged offensive behavior could very well escalate.

Surprise! Iron Range firm wins EEOC ADA case

09/08/2010
Login Email Address Password I forgot my password To continue reading this page, become an HR Specialist Premium Plus member today! Your subscription includes: Ask the Attorney: Answers to your HR legal questions Compliance Guidance: Access to 7,000 HR news articles, updated daily, sorted by state State-by-State: Summaries of HR laws in all 50 states […]

Accommodating isn’t ‘regarding as disabled’

09/08/2010

Here’s good news for employers that want to accommodate employees who say they’re disabled, even if it’s not clear they actually are. If you make the accommodations, the employee can’t sue you for regarding her as disabled if it turns out she isn’t really disabled. That means you can safely agree to an accommodation without fearing a lawsuit later.

Train supervisors on FMLA notice process

09/08/2010
Train supervisors and managers on situations that could trigger the FMLA leave determination process. The best approach is to suggest they notify HR if an employee calls in sick and implies anything more than “I’m sick today.” If the employee provides any detail that makes it seem likely he or a family member is suffering from a serious health condition, he should be referred to HR to determine if he’s eligible for FMLA leave.

Can we legally a hire a foreign national?

09/08/2010
Q. Our software company is considering hiring a Canadian citizen for a computer systems analyst position. Does the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) allow us to hire this individual?

Will we run into legal trouble if we commit to hiring only ‘careful’ workers?

09/08/2010
Q. Several recent hires have suffered work-related injuries shortly after starting to work for us. As a result, our workers’ compensation premiums have soared. Our CEO, in an effort to avoid this problem, has directed managers to hire only “careful” workers in the future. Is this legal?