• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Firing

Don’t ‘get tough’ on certain staff; tie punishment to crime

05/01/2005
Issue: Supervisors tend to be quicker in disciplining employees that have given them trouble in the past.
Risk: Singling out certain “troublemakers” for discipline can spur a retaliation lawsuit.
…

State law dictates employees’ access to personnel file

05/01/2005

Q. An ex-employee whom we fired is now asking to take some documents from his personnel file. Is he legally allowed to do this? Do we have to give him the information just because he’s asking for it? —L.B., North Carolina

Will your anti-retaliation policy pay off?

04/01/2005
When it comes to handling employee complaints of unfair treatment, you’d better have a policy and a procedure in place to handle retaliation claims.
That’s the $520,000 message a federal …

Accommodate employee health issues, but don’t ‘play doctor’

04/01/2005
When employees suffer health problems that affect their work and could trigger ADA protection, you should start the interactive process and explore possible accommodations. But make sure your supervisors know not …

Avoid lawsuits by sticking to performance when you fire

04/01/2005
When terminating someone, it’s critical to choose your words very cautiously. Briefly summarize your reasons for the firing, and allow the person to offer his or her side of the story, …

Employees can’t cry ‘retaliation’ if they’re not eligible for leave

04/01/2005
Issue: Employees can sue for FMLA retaliation only if they’ve put in the minimum hours to become eligible for FMLA leave.
Benefit: Less risk of first-year employees winning FMLA-retaliation suits. …

Design your career ‘disaster plan’ now, before you need it

04/01/2005
Issue: You know how to help employees who are fired or laid off. But HR people often forget those principals when facing that
problem themselves.
Benefit: With proper planning …

“Confederate Southern-American” isn’t a protected class.

03/01/2005
It’s illegal to discriminate in hiring, firing, promotions or pay because of a person’s national origin. Courts have said national origin must refer to a country where the person was born …

When handing out discipline, make punishment fit the crime

03/01/2005
Managers may want to “get tough” on employees who have given them trouble in the past. But, as the following case shows, employees can sue for retaliation if they can prove …

Don’t impose grooming rules that weigh heavier on one gender

03/01/2005
Courts usually allow you to set grooming policies or appearance standards, particularly for employees who deal directly with customers. Just make sure you apply your rules evenhandedly across your work force. …