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Firing

Check the medical documentation: FMLA doesn’t automatically apply to ER visits

12/09/2008

You don’t need to give employees FMLA leave just because they have a discharge sheet from a hospital emergency room. The real question is whether the medical condition that prompted them to visit the ER was a serious health condition.

Remind managers: Comments about weight can trigger harassment complaints

12/09/2008

When people lose their jobs, they often look for some reason other than their own poor performance. And since they are off work, they have lots of time to think about the past, including real or imagined slights they endured at the hands of co-workers and supervisors.

Log all discipline, track it by type & offense

12/09/2008

It goes without saying that you should enforce your rules fairly. That’s why you must track every disciplinary action and make a clear record of why each employee earned his discipline. Later, when one of those employees claims the real reason he was fired was due to age, sex or some other protected classification, you can show that wasn’t the case.

Be prepared to grant FMLA leave for diagnosis of serious health condition

12/09/2008

Routine doctors’ appointments such as checkups or annual physicals aren’t considered eligible for FMLA leave, but appointments aimed at diagnosing a condition may be. Employers that know the employee is seeing a specialist as part of the followup to an auto accident, for example, are on notice that the employee may need to take FMLA leave …

It’s OK to ban prescription drugs if you have genuine safety concerns

12/09/2008

Employees who take certain prescription drugs for legitimate medical conditions may be unable to work safely if their jobs involve heavy machinery, split-second judgment or the ability to remain alert. If that’s the case, it’s not disability discrimination to ban employees from working while on those medications.

Employee in drug treatment? Consider DATWA before firing

12/09/2008

Do all your supervisors and HR staff understand how Minnesota’s Drug and Alcohol Testing in the Workplace Act works? If not, train everyone now or face the possibility of punitive damages.

Quit or fired? Answer affects whether you pay unemployment

12/09/2008

How an employer handles an employee who doesn’t show up for work can mean the difference between paying unemployment compensation and not being liable.

Former TV producer ups the ante in disability suit

12/08/2008

Erin Primmer, former producer of “The Montel Williams Show,” has increased the amount of her disability discrimination lawsuit against CBS by a whopping $3 million. Primmer claims she was wrongfully fired after she collapsed from a brain aneurysm in 2007 …

Older worker suddenly dinged? See you in court

12/08/2008

Judges are naturally suspicious. They regularly see the worst of humanity, and many don’t have the rosiest outlook on life. So when they hear that an employer suddenly disciplined an employee who has put in decades of service with nary a blot on her disciplinary record, they think “age discrimination.”

Be prepared to explain why offenses were similar but punishments differed

12/08/2008

Employers need flexibility when it comes to disciplining employees. But flexibility can’t come at the expense of members of a protected class. Be careful before you approve different punishments for the same or very similar rule violations.