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Q&A

Discipline: Step-by-Step

09/01/2007

Q. What is progressive discipline? …

The elements of a valid noncompete agreement

09/01/2007

Q. What standards must Pennsylvania employers follow when drafting noncompete agreements? …

Employee access to personnel files

09/01/2007

Q. Who has the right to view personnel files? …

Phone privacy: It’s your property

09/01/2007

Q. Can employers eavesdrop on their employees’ phone conversations at work, or listen to their voicemail messages in the company voicemail system? …

The long and short of it: Do different grooming policies equal discrimination?

09/01/2007

Q. We have a company policy requiring male employees to keep their hair cut short. One worker says we can’t force him to cut his hair because we don’t tell female workers to do the same. Is this true? …

Does grooming policy interfere with religious belief?

09/01/2007

Q. Can we require a job applicant to cut his hair as a condition of employment even if he alleges that his religion forbids him from cutting his hair? …

Draft ‘Last-Chance’ agreements with care

08/01/2007

Q. We have a poor-performing employee who is up for discharge. The union has requested that we give him one “last chance,” and has said that it will agree to a last-chance agreement if we don’t terminate his employment now. What is the impact of a last-chance agreement? — J.R.

Ask job applicants about felony convictions, but be careful

08/01/2007

Q. We are reviewing our employment application, which includes a question about felony convictions. We have been told that we should not ask about an applicant’s arrest record. Can you explain what we can ask and what we cannot ask? We are a relatively small company, with fewer than 100 employees. — C.T.

Health insurance maintained during FMLA leave

08/01/2007

Q. We have an employee who is out on an FMLA leave of absence. Our company provides health insurance for its employees and their families, and employees pay 20% of the premium. Our employee has not paid his share of the premium. Should we cancel his health insurance? We are very nervous about doing so because the employee has a very serious health condition. — J.B.

Discipline employee who refuses to abide by safety rules

08/01/2007

Q. One of our shop employees was not wearing his safety glasses during a Michigan OSHA (MIOSHA) inspection, for which the company was cited. Our company has a rule requiring employees to wear safety glasses in the plant. Were we wrongly cited? — T.B.