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Louisiana

Court ruling may discourage jobs for the financially troubled

09/01/2006

A new ruling by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals (which includes Texas) may encourage people who file Chapter 7 bankruptcy to remain unemployed until the court finalizes their bankruptcy …

When punishing employees’ use of slurs, equality counts

08/01/2006

The mantra in real estate is "location, location, location." But the mantra in employee discipline must always be "consistency, consistency, consistency" …

Stick to FMLA certification rules, or lose your rights

08/01/2006

Make sure your supervisors (and you) know how to respond when an employee requests leave for his or her own serious illness or a family member’s illness. If you don’t follow the FMLA’s rules on how and when to request written proof about the illness or injury, you lose your right to challenge the employee’s leave request …

Texas court: Prisoners aren’t entitled to the minimum wage

08/01/2006

Compelling a prisoner to work without pay is not illegal, a federal court has ruled in considering a Texas inmate’s request. The prisoner worked in the prison laundry and claimed he should be paid at least the federal minimum wage …

You can require reservists to arbitrate USERRA claims

08/01/2006

The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) protects the rights of soldiers and reservists who are called to active duty or training and want to return to their jobs once their service is over. But these rights aren’t without limits …

Employees’ Seniority Trumps Disabled Co-Workers’ ADA Rights

07/01/2006

If you award first choice of promotions, shifts, vacation slots and other perks based on employees’ seniority, you’ll face a dilemma if a disabled employee requests an ADA accommodation that conflicts with that policy …

Placing Employee on ‘Involuntary’ FMLA Leave Is Perfectly Legal

07/01/2006

When an employee calls in sick with an apparently serious ailment, you can place that employee on FMLA leave, even if he or she never asks. f you reasonably believe she has a serious health condition, you can start the 12-week FMLA-leave clock ticking …

Professional exemption limited when applied to medical staff

06/01/2006

Don’t assume that medical employees with advanced training and licenses meet the FLSA’s "learned profession" exemption, which allows employers to pay lawyers and doctors by the hour and still not pay them …

More reason to beef up training: ‘Quit and sue’ becoming the norm

04/01/2006

Don’t assume that you can handle sexual harassment issues after they arrive on your desk as a complaint. The trend these days seems to be "quit and sue," rather than giving employers a chance to fix the problem. And, in many cases, employees are finding success in such tactics …

Keep ‘Customer Preference’ Out of Your Hiring Criteria

02/01/2006

Make sure your hiring managers understand that basing hiring decisions on the prejudices of your customer base is a sure way to land in court. Applicants’ race, age, sex or religion should always be irrelevant. Courts won’t be swayed by claims that customer preferences forced your hiring hand …