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

Terminations

Wrongful termination limited in Pennsylvania

04/25/2008
Pennsylvania employers can terminate most at-will employees for any or no reason as long as the firing doesn’t violate state, local or federal law. However, there is a narrow “public policy” exception that protects some at-will employees …

Can a guy mess up so bad, it turns out good?

04/25/2008
In 2000, Jeffrey Paich was hired to manage the Nike Factory Store in Mercer. A year later, Debra Sweda became Paich’s supervisor. Over the next four years, Sweda was inundated with complaints about Paich’s temper and his treatment of women …

COBRA claim for employee who didn’t sign up for health insurance?

04/25/2008

Q. We offer insurance benefits that begin three months after hire. Due to changing business conditions, we had to terminate an employee after only six months on the job. It seems that the worker wasn’t signed up for the health plan on his termination date. Does he now have any claim to COBRA? …

Which day is best to fire, hire or give reviews?

04/24/2008
A study by consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas reports that Mondays are the best days to terminate employees because it allows them to start looking for a job right away. Make job offers on Thursdays because candidates need time to think …

When a former employee steals customers

04/23/2008
Q. One of our employees left and is stealing our customers. Can we sue him for breach of the duty of loyalty? …

Continuation medical coverage and small North Carolina employers

04/23/2008
Q. Does North Carolina have a “little” COBRA Act that requires small employers to offer continued health insurance to terminated employees? …

Treat all harassers equally, regardless of their sex

04/23/2008
In what may be a sign of growing equality, more men are complaining about sexual harassment by their female co-workers and supervisors. Although female harassers may still be in the minority, that’s no reason to dismiss claims that men make …

For some employees, banking law trumps state protections

04/23/2008
Banks chartered under the National Bank Act (NBA) don’t have to worry that some of their employment decisions will violate state wrongful-discharge laws. That’s because the NBA says all bank officers serve at the pleasure of a bank board of directors, which can terminate officers as they see fit …

Appeals court dumps whistle-Blower’s claim

04/23/2008
A three-judge panel of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a whistle-blower claim by Mark Livingston, former training director at the Sanford vaccine plant of pharmaceuticals giant Wyeth Inc. The company fired Livingston in December 2002 …

Must we explain reason for termination?

04/23/2008
Q. We are about to terminate an employee for several reasons. Are we required to provide a written document explaining the reasons for her termination? …