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Q&A

Don’t hamstring defense by detailing termination

12/01/2001

Q. We recently terminated an employee. He claims that he is legally entitled to a letter outlining the reasons for his discharge. Is he correct? —E.T., Maryland

Off-Duty Parties Sometimes Carry Liability

12/01/2001

Q. A recent sexual harassment complaint reported the conduct of management employees at a private party. The party was outside the normal workday and wasn’t sponsored by the company. What is the company’s liability? —W.S., Wisconsin

Morale, Not Law, Dictates Social Obligations

12/01/2001

Q. We’ve traditionally sponsored a holiday cruise for our Virginia employees (mainly executives and directors). But the cost will be prohibitive if we include our newest employees, who are spread across three neighboring states. Can we sponsor different events for staff in each geographical area? —W.S., Virginia

Temp Employee May Trigger FMLA Rights

11/01/2001

Q. Do employees paid through a temporary agency count toward the 50-employee eligibility number for the Family and Medical Leave Act? —M.S., New Jersey

Take Broad Look for ADA Accommodation

11/01/2001

Q. If we let some employees in a department return to work in a light-duty capacity, can we deny other employees that same option? We need to do this because the department no longer can operate properly with half its staff on medical leave or limited to light duty due to medical conditions. The union contract says that when an employee is eligible for medical leave, six months must pass before we may terminate the employee. —D.W., Illinois

Keep Control Over Comp-Time Accumulation

11/01/2001

Q. We have an exempt supervisor who’s accumulated more than 400 hours of comp time over the past year. It’s almost impossible for her to take 400 hours of comp time and do her job. What is our obligation to pay for this comp time? How can this issue best be resolved? —G.H., California

You Can Change Workers’ Hours on Short Notice

11/01/2001

Q. Can we change employees’ work hours on short notice by altering their schedules? Also, we have a part-time employee who’s been employed for a few months working 32 hours a week. She’s preparing to return to work after recovering from a car accident. Can we reduce her work hours? —J.L., Maryland

Sweeten Deal to Retain Worker After Training

10/01/2001

Q. We just covered the entire cost for an employee to complete nurses’ aide training. We intended to draw up an agreement before the training so that this employee would be available to our business for six months before she could seek other employment, but we failed to discuss the agreement before the training. Can we have her sign such an agreement now? —C.E., Ohio

Weigh Cost Before Denying Accommodation Request

10/01/2001

Q. An employee we hired a couple weeks ago through a temporary agency (he is on their payroll) has just told us that he is Muslim and can’t work on Fridays. During the interview, he was asked whether anything would prohibit his working a proposed schedule that specifically included Fridays for the next 30 days. He said no, and this is in writing. He did not mention this problem until he had already been working for a week or two. Can we let this guy go? —M.R., South Carolina

Raise Doesn’t Prove Employee Was Succeeding

10/01/2001

Q. About three months ago, we gave a marginal employee who is pregnant a pay raise in hopes that it would improve her job performance by boosting her morale. Unfortunately, her performance has gone from bad to worse. If we fire her for poor performance, can she successfully argue that the recent raise indicates that she was performing well and that our reason for terminating her was discriminatory? —H.K., Illinois