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Employment Law

Uncomplicated flu may not be covered by FMLA

08/18/2010
During last year’s swine flu pandemic, lots of employers came up with contingency plans in case employees got sick. Most swine flu cases, thankfully, ended up being quite mild. And as a practical matter, that probably meant that most employees who had swine flu would not have been eligible for FMLA leave because they weren’t incapacitated or unable to perform the essential functions of their jobs for three days.

Military leave starts Tuesday: Pay for full week?

08/18/2010
Q. One of our exempt employees is in the Reserve. He is going on a two-week training session that starts on a Tuesday. That means he will work on Monday, the start of our week. Do we have to pay him for the whole week when he is only going to be here Monday?

Cutting jobs? Prepare to show a solid business reason

08/17/2010
When a 64-year-old worker sued for age bias, his employer pulled out documentation showing a big budget gap that required the elimination of several positions. The court said that when a legitimate RIF occurs, an employee has to provide “direct, circumstantial or statistical evidence” showing age bias. He couldn’t.

Does your wellness program clash with new genetic bias law?

08/17/2010
Approximately 70% of employers sponsor wellness programs designed to drive down health care costs, reduce absenteeism and promote better employee health. But now, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act has muddied the wellness waters. Learn how to comply while still offering incentives for employees to participate in your wellness program.

DOL issues new pro-employee rules on pay for changing clothes

08/17/2010
The U.S. Department of Labor has overturned years of past guidance with new rules on when employers must pay workers for the time they spend “donning and doffing” certain work clothes. Guess what: It’s not good news for employers. Read the new DOL interpretation letter here.

Race bias: Do the math … or the EEOC will do it for you

08/16/2010

I keep warning readers about the “new” EEOC and how it’s getting much more aggressive. The agency is keeping more cases, rather than issuing “right to sue” letters. It’s securing smaller settlements, but in greater volume. Now, a new court ruling just gave the EEOC even more powerful ammunition to use against your company if it’s accused of discrimination …

When co-workers engage in racial harassment, act fast to remove offensive symbols

08/13/2010
Employers can escape liability for employees’ racist actions if they can show they acted quickly to stop any potentially race-based harassment such as graffiti or offensive symbols.

Poor performance or disability discrimination? Keep good records to prove you’re not biased

08/13/2010

While employers have an obligation to offer reasonable accommodations to help employees who are disabled, it doesn’t follow that disabled employees can keep their jobs if they simply can’t get work done. But termination often causes a disability discrimination lawsuit. Be prepared to show exactly how poor the employee’s performance really was.

Understanding the new ‘grandfathering’ rules

08/13/2010
Group health plans that were in effect when the health care reform law was signed can earn “grandfather” status. That means they only have to comply with some of the market reforms. But employers can lose grandfather status if they change insurance carriers or “substantially increase” out-of-pocket costs for employees. Here are seven changes that could imperil grandfathered status.

Can we terminate an employee who has been discussing how much he gets paid?

08/12/2010
Q. Our company has a confidentiality policy about employee wages. We recently learned that one of our employees has been violating this policy by disclosing his hourly pay rate to co-workers. Can we terminate this employee for violating our company policy?