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Terminations

Oral promise of long-term job will trump written at-will agreement

04/01/2004
Caution your hiring managers to avoid making, or even hinting at, guarantees to prospective employees about long-term job commitments. “Talking up” permanence to lure applicants could crush your ability to fire …

When does ‘religious expression’ cross the line?

04/01/2004
Issue: You must walk a fine line between allowing employees’ religious expression and preventing that expression from harming the business or creating unbalanced treatment of employees. Benefit: Federal law says …

Can you fire a poor performer who’s on FMLA leave?

04/01/2004

Q. Our office receptionist has a history of being late for work and taking unexcused absences. She’s out on FMLA leave to care for her sick mother. Her temporary replacement is doing an outstanding job and always shows up on time. Our CEO has asked if we can keep the new receptionist and tell the other one not to return. Can we? —J.M., New York

‘Willful’ violation can extend employees’ time to file FMLA suit

03/01/2004
Typically, employees can file Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) lawsuits no later than two years after the alleged violation. But if a worker can prove that your organization “willfully” violated …

Worker’s FMLA time expired? Check ADA obligation, too

03/01/2004

Q. An employee’s been on FMLA leave for pregnancy for about 17 weeks. Now that the 16 weeks (12 under FMLA, plus four additional in our state) have expired, we plan to terminate her and let her know that she is eligible for rehire when and if she returns to work. Are we legally safe? —C.A., California

Misconduct is the key to enforcing your ‘no rehire’ policy

03/01/2004
Issue: When can you refuse to rehire a former employee who may be protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)? Benefit: You don’t have to rehire people who are …

Wear kid gloves with accommodation requests; they are ‘protected activity’

03/01/2004
Alert managers that they can’t demote, fire or retaliate in any way against employees simply because they ask you to accommodate their physical ailments. That advice holds true even if employees …

Workers’ religious beliefs don’t trump your need for a bias-free workplace

03/01/2004
Employees are clearly entitled to their own religious beliefs. But your organization doesn’t need to bend the rules to allow those beliefs to interfere with the rights of other employees.
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Retaliation: Don’t retaliate against witnesses

03/01/2004
After a workplace investigation, check with all parties involved (including witnesses) to make sure they haven’t been retaliated against. The case: During an investigation into misconduct, employee Donny Abbott told supervisors …

Be consistent when you discipline and terminate

03/01/2004

Q. We fired one of our truck drivers after giving him a written warning about continued lateness in completing weekly logs. Should we have taken any other action prior to his termination? —R.W., California