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Terminations

Equal Pay for Older Workers

03/09/2008

HR Law 101: When designing compensation plans, employers should take into consideration whether the pay schedules have a negative impact on older workers. Several pay discrimination cases have reached the Supreme Court in recent years …

Termination meeting should include open door, easy exit

03/01/2008

The setting for a termination meeting can be crucial in preventing an unexpected charge—false imprisonment. To avoid unfounded false imprisonment charges, make certain termination meetings are private, yet open. Allow the employee to sit by the door, with nothing blocking her exit …

Conduct age audit to show you don’t favor young workers

03/01/2008
In tight economic times, you may have to trim staff to save money. Undoubtedly, some of those RIF victims will be older. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that you will be on the losing end of an age discrimination lawsuit. To check where you stand, do a quick age audit …

How many employees make a ‘Group’ for OWBPA purposes?

03/01/2008
Q. I recently read that the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA) requires that we provide an employee who has been discharged as part of a “group” termination at least 45 days to consider the terms of a release waiving his or her rights under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. How many employees constitute a group? …

Disability still your call, even if co-workers ‘Accommodate’

03/01/2008

Sometimes, supervisors are the last to know an employee wants an accommodation for a disability. Instead, the employee may be making her own accommodations by asking co-workers for help. Of course, the help may end up keeping them from doing their own jobs. What should you do when you find out? …

Repeated outbursts bar unemployment comp

03/01/2008

Employers have a right to expect a certain level of decorum in the workplace. Employees fired for using crude language or engaging in threatening behavior won’t likely be able to collect unemployment compensation, since their own misdeeds caused them to become unemployed …

Ohio Supreme Court places limits on public-Policy terminations

03/01/2008

In a dramatic reversal, the Ohio Supreme Court significantly limited the reach of its earlier decision in Coolidge v. Riverdale School Systems. That 2003 decision led attorneys and employers to conclude that it violated Ohio state public policy to terminate any employee who was eligible to receive temporary total disability payments under the Ohio Workers’ Compensation Act …

If possible, manager who hired should be the same one who fires

03/01/2008

It stands to reason that a manager who thinks enough of an applicant to hire her won’t turn around and fire her a few months later in a fit of discrimination, especially if the applicant belonged to a protected class. That’s why it makes sense to have the same people who made the hiring decision be part of the termination process if the need should arise …

Temporary condition might be disability if severe enough

03/01/2008

The ADA makes it illegal to discriminate against applicants or employees with disabilities. Typically, only permanent conditions count. But not always. Some temporary medical conditions also can constitute disabilities if they are severe enough at the time the condition exists …

Firing reason doesn’t have to be perfect to withstand discrimination claims

03/01/2008

As a conscientious HR pro, you no doubt try to make the best employment decisions you can, based on legitimate reasons and valid evidence. But that doesn’t mean you have to treat the HR office like a court of law, spending weeks conducting investigations and sorting through evidence …