11/06/2008
Employees who are classified as exempt under the FLSA can be paid on a salary basis and must work as many hours as necessary to get the work done. However, some employers make such frequent changes to the salary levels of exempt employees that it can almost seem as if the employees are being paid on an hourly basis. When that happens, the employer loses the right to skip paying overtime.
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11/06/2008
If you decide to terminate an employee who simply won’t follow instructions and is the source of constant trouble, go ahead and provide a laundry list of reasons. As long as the reasons are legitimate, the list will help set him apart from others who may not have been fired for breaking the rules.
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09/02/2008
When some employees approach retirement, they begin to coast. They may think that there’s no way their employer will let them go at their age, assuming management will be afraid of an Age Discrimination in Employment case. The truth is, that worker isn’t untouchable. Here’s how to handle the situation when you discover the employee is still coming to work but has mentally retired ...
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09/02/2008
Employees who file EEOC complaints may assume they can rifle through company files looking for smoking-gun evidence of discrimination. Bad move. Employers don’t have to put up with such outrageous antics—if they have the right policies in place ...
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09/02/2008
When it comes to maternity or childbirth leave, women have at least two federal laws that protect them from possible discrimination: the FMLA and the Pregnancy Discimination Act. Employers who understand that the FMLA and the PDA work together aren’t likely to make mistakes that result in lawsuits ...
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09/02/2008
Does your company employ drivers who cross state lines? If so, make sure they understand they cannot take passengers with them. Here’s why: In the event of an accident, the rider may sue, alleging that since the company allowed her to ride along, the company is responsible for any injuries caused by the driver’s negligence ...
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08/05/2008
Some kinds of employees are exempt from the overtime provisions of the FLSA. They include so-called “outside” salespeople who are “actively engaged in activities directed toward the consummation of his own sales, at least to the extent of obtaining a commitment to buy from the person to whom he is selling.” It’s a tough test ...
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08/05/2008
Employees who can show that a company routinely discriminates against members of a particular protected class will have a much easier time showing that, as members of that class, they were discriminated against, too. Perform your own statistical analyses to test your hiring practices for hidden discrimination ...
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08/05/2008
Handbooks and disciplinary rules help managers mete out consistent and fair discipline. But no handbook or set of rules can cover every possible disciplinary problem, and supervisors need some discretion when deciding what punishment fits the crime. The problem is that any deviation from the rules may be seen as discrimination if an employee who belongs to a protected class perceives that he has been punished more harshly than a co-worker who broke the same rule ...
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07/21/2008
Electrician David Justice worked at a canning plant when he suffered a stroke. It affected his balance, so when he returned to work, his doctor said he could no longer work on catwalks or ladders ...
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07/01/2008
If your company isn’t a union employer, that doesn’t mean you can ignore the National Labor Relations Act. Chances are, someone wants to make your company a union workplace and will try to trick you into becoming one. In fact, one of your job applicants may be that wolf in sheep’s clothing. He or she will lie to get a job—and then call in the union organizers ...
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06/03/2008
One of the most important HR functions is monitoring whether your organization is unwittingly discriminating when hiring, firing or promoting. To do that, you obviously have to know who belongs to what protected classification. At the same time, you don’t necessarily want the supervisors and managers who make employment decisions to have that information at their fingertips ...
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06/03/2008
Employees who complain that other employees have been discriminated against can’t just walk off the job and sue, claiming their working conditions were intolerable. The workplace must be more than merely unpleasant to justify a claimed constructive discharge ...
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06/03/2008
It’s important to remind all supervisors to judge employees on their individual merits—and not to indulge stereotypes. As the following case shows, using stereotypes in any critique of job performance may be enough evidence of national origin discrimination to merit a possible jury trial ...
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05/06/2008
Generally, employees have to file discrimination lawsuits soon after an adverse employment decision or act of harassment. But sometimes employees can go far back in time if they can tie a recent event to past events. If that happens, a jury may get to hear a litany of complaints, each adding weight to the other ...
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