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Terminations

Minutes—not just hours—count when figuring FMLA eligibility

10/08/2008

When it comes to getting paid, every minute matters in wage-and-hour cases. Does that same rigid rule apply to the FMLA?
The U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago has now said you had better use your stopwatch when it comes to counting work time that applies to FMLA eligibility. Every minute counts toward the 1,250-hour minimum employees have to work in a year …

Termination for viewing child porn

10/08/2008

Q. Our company has a strict Internet-use policy. During the course of routine computer maintenance and observation, our third-party IT provider advised us that one of our employees had been viewing child pornography in violation of our policy. We immediately terminated that employee. Is there anything else we should do regarding this employee’s violation of our company’s policy? …

New twist on ‘in-kind’ gifts

10/07/2008

A report released in September by U.S. Inspector General Earl Devaney revealed a “culture of substance abuse and promiscuity” at the Royalty in Kind (RIK) division of the federal Minerals Management Service in Lakewood …

Mall management interfering with union drive, workers say

10/07/2008

A group of contract janitors at Park Meadows Mall in Littleton walked off the job in September to protest unfair labor practices by the Millard Group, which provides cleaning services to malls owned by General Growth Properties (GGP) …

Nov. 4 ballot initiatives may change Colorado employment law

10/07/2008

November’s election has special implications for Colorado employers because a number of ballot issues involve employment law. The ballot features dueling initiatives: four measures brought by organized labor in response to three measures sponsored by business interests …

Rely on doctor’s orders when making ADA call

10/07/2008

Under the ADA, employees who aren’t actually disabled can nonetheless sue employers if the employers erroneously perceive them to be disabled. But there’s good news on this arcane ADA front …

Muslim workers at JBS Swift walk out over prayer breaks

10/07/2008

More than 200 Muslim workers walked out of the Greeley plant of meat processor JBS Swift & Co. in September to protest the company’s refusal to allow prayer breaks at sunset, a required ritual during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. More than 100 were fired for walking off the job and not returning …

Undermining employee: An adverse employment action?

10/07/2008

To sue for discrimination, employees must prove the employer did something that amounted to an adverse employment action—a firing, demotion or some other act that substantially affected the terms and conditions of employment. Do sexist comments that undermine a female employee’s authority constitute an adverse employment action? …

Can I fire employees who may soon become competitors?

10/07/2008

Q. I just learned from a reliable source that two employees are going to start a similar business. Apparently, they have submitted paperwork that is based on the forms I used to create my own business. Is this grounds for termination? …

Use blind process to decide who loses during RIF

10/07/2008

No one likes a layoff, especially the affected employees—who may look for a reason to sue. Smart employers can stop many baseless lawsuits by using objective, neutral criteria to select which workers will lose their jobs. That’s what happened in the following case …