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Q&A

Lawsuit and agency investigation at same time?

04/28/2008
Q. Can an employee sue us in the New Jersey Superior Court for the same alleged discrimination still pending before the Division on Civil Rights? …

How can we recover funds accidentally overpaid to an employee?

04/25/2008
Q. We recently overpaid an employee by $3,000, but we did not discover the discrepancy for six months. Can we automatically and legitimately withhold those wages from the employee’s paycheck? Also, would it be inappropriate to dock additional wages because the employee did not make us aware of the mistake?  …

Handling a worker who clocks in early

04/25/2008

Q. We’ve repeatedly warned a part-time employee about clocking in earlier than he’s supposed to—sometimes more than an hour early. We know that we have to pay him for any hours worked, but what can we legally do to get him to work only the hours set for his position? Also, can we reprimand a co-worker who has been clocking in for him? …

COBRA claim for employee who didn’t sign up for health insurance?

04/25/2008

Q. We offer insurance benefits that begin three months after hire. Due to changing business conditions, we had to terminate an employee after only six months on the job. It seems that the worker wasn’t signed up for the health plan on his termination date. Does he now have any claim to COBRA? …

Is comp time legal in lieu of overtime?

04/25/2008
Q. Can our company legally offer comp time instead of overtime? I’ve received conflicting answers. …

Do we have to provide a job application even if we’re not hiring?

04/25/2008
Q. If we don’t have a job opening, are we required to hand out applications to anyone who asks? Or can we just say that we’re not taking applications at this time? …

The value of job descriptions—Even following termination

04/25/2008
Q. How serious is it if an employer doesn’t have written job descriptions in place? Is it safe to draft them even after a termination that could result in a lawsuit? …

Worker notification in case of plant closing

04/23/2008
Q. The economy is slowing down and we may have to close one of our locations. Does North Carolina have any law beyond the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act that requires notice of large layoffs or business closings? …

When a former employee steals customers

04/23/2008
Q. One of our employees left and is stealing our customers. Can we sue him for breach of the duty of loyalty? …

Must we explain reason for termination?

04/23/2008
Q. We are about to terminate an employee for several reasons. Are we required to provide a written document explaining the reasons for her termination? …