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Texas

Drug testing: Minimize lawsuit risk with smart policy

09/01/2007

You have the right to demand a drug-free workplace, but employees also have reasonable rights to privacy. That’s why drug testing and substance-abuse prevention programs carry big-time legal risks if they’re not managed properly. Employers can safely administer drug testing before hiring someone, during a fitness-for-duty test and after a preventable accident …

Do you destroy hiring documents? Track process anyway

09/01/2007

Nothing generates paper like the hiring process, especially if it involves multiple interviews and committee meetings. What do you do with all that paper? If you destroy it, be prepared to show you do so routinely. Otherwise, a jury or judge may view the destruction as evidence you have something to hide …

One mistake won’t sink fluctuating workweek election

09/01/2007

Employers that use the Fair Labor Standards Act’s fluctuating workweek method to calculate pay should take heart!  Making one innocent deduction mistake doesn’t mean you can never use the method again …

Catch reverse discrimination before it becomes federal case

09/01/2007

Is your organization going through a transition period marked by discharges and new hires? If so, take a quick look at your pre- and post-transition work force composition. If the diversity of your work force has changed dramatically, you may need to consider the possibility of a federal lawsuit hitting you next. If this sounds familiar, rethink your strategy before it’s too late …

EEOC ruled against you? Don’t simply settle

09/01/2007

In EEOC hearings, employers get a chance to defend their actions, and the agency often concludes that the employer did no wrong. But what about instances when the agency sides with the employee? Should you immediately accept defeat and settle the case? Not if you’re settling because you’re worried that the EEOC decision might become part of a federal lawsuit …

Use performance evaluation to bolster exempt status

09/01/2007

Employers have the burden of proving that exempt employees meet one of the exemptions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). That means you must be prepared to show that the actual job the employee performs meets an exemption. Regular performance appraisals provide a convenient and effective way to do that …

Be prepared to back up cost of religious accommodations

09/01/2007

You can’t just use a blanket statement (e.g., “granting time off will be expensive”) to deny a request for religious accommodation. You must be prepared to show the actual cost of the accommodation. That’s true even if giving someone the Sabbath day off means having to hire another employee to cover the time …

Hair today or gone tomorrow: It’s up to employee to mention religion

09/01/2007

When it comes to accommodating religious practices, employers aren’t required to be clairvoyant. If an employee wants you to accommodate a religious practice or objects to a work rule because it interferes with his or her right to practice religion, the employee has to let you know how practicing the religion precludes following the rule …

Make sure job skills tests measure what prospective employees actually will do

09/01/2007

You’ve just created a new position and a job description to go with it. That description includes essential job functions, as well as education and training requirements. Now you want to create a skills test to make sure applicants can do the job. Not so fast! Before you have the first applicant take the test, double-check that your test measures the attributes related to the essential functions you specified in the job description …

Attorney general cracks down on forced unionization

09/01/2007

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott recently sued employers and a labor organization in El Paso and Corpus Christi for allegedly forcing employees to become union members or pay union dues in violation of the state’s right-to-work law …