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Q&A

Holding employee’s final paycheck to recoup company property

06/12/2008
Q. Our company has a policy requiring employees who are leaving the company to participate in an exit interview. One of the requirements is to check that the terminated employee has returned all company property, including company manuals, laptop computers, identification badges and similar items. Frequently we don’t get everything back that we should. It has been suggested that we hold the employee’s final paycheck until he or she returns all company property. Do you see any problem with adopting such a policy? …

Pay for workers’ comp evaluation?

06/11/2008
Q. We have an employee who has filed a workers’ compensation claim. Our attorneys have asked the employee to go to our insurance company’s doctor for an evaluation. This will keep the employee away from work the whole day. Do we have to pay the employee for going to the doctor, or may we classify it as a personal day? …

Must we pay for unapproved overtime?

06/11/2008
Q. Our company requires employees to obtain their supervisors’ prior approval for all overtime. Our management takes the position that it does not need to pay overtime if employees don’t get approval first. My understanding is that all hours worked must be paid. Which is correct? …

Can we tap company phones to investigate possible theft?

06/11/2008
Q. Our company distributes steel from one of our warehouses. A substantial amount of product has gone missing. We suspect that our warehouse manager is conspiring with one of our former employees to take it, possibly creating a false paper trail to cover the theft. Our camera surveillance is not picking up any irregular activity on the loading dock. We believe the manager may be talking to the ex-employee from his office phone. Can we legally monitor the manager’s phone without violating any privacy rights that he might have? …

FMLA and termination for failing to submit certification

06/11/2008
Q. Our company has an employee who has taken FMLA leave to care for his sick child. His attendance record has been poor, but we have not documented our warnings as well as we should have. Our company has a rule that an employee has 15 days to have the treating doctor sign and return a form certifying the medical condition of the family member who is sick. We never received the signed form. The employee says that his doctor sent it. Can we terminate the employee? …

E-Mail policies and the NLRA

06/10/2008
Q. I work in the HR department of a unionized company, and our CEO wants me to draw up an employee e-mail use policy. Can I restrict personal e-mail use without violating the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)? …

Is E-Verify mandatory in Minnesota?

06/10/2008
Q. I have heard rumors that Minnesota employers are now required to use E-Verify. What is this? …

The wisdom of correcting I-9s

06/10/2008
Q. As the HR person at our company, I just recently concluded an internal audit of the Form I-9s that we have on file. I am concerned that many of those forms may be incorrectly filled out. Should I just throw them all out and complete new Form I-9s for our employees? …

Can I hire a home-Schooled teenager who doesn’t have a work permit?

06/06/2008
Q. I am a small business owner. A 17-year-old who is not emancipated and has not graduated from high school recently approached me seeking full-time employment. She claims that, because she is home-schooled, she can work full-time year-round and does not have access to a work permit from her school. Can I legally hire this minor without the school certificate required by Ohio law? …

Interview questions: What not to ask

06/06/2008
Q. Are there specific questions that an employer is prohibited from asking during a job interview? …