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Compensation & Benefits

What counts as a true meal break?

11/04/2009

Q. Sometimes we hold important meetings at lunch and provide food. An employee then takes her lunch hour after. Can we tell her she can’t do that?

Sears pays $6.2 million in record-setting ADA class-action settlement case

11/03/2009

Sears agreed last month to a $6.2 million settlement with the EEOC over charges that it violated the ADA. This is the largest ADA settlement in a single lawsuit in ADA history.

Families of veterans, service members get new FMLA rights

11/03/2009

You wouldn’t think a Pentagon budget bill would affect HR, but the 2010 Department of Defense appropriations law does—by expanding the military family leave amendments to the FMLA that were enacted last year. The legislation provided two new kinds of leave for employees with close relatives serving on active duty in the armed forces:

Supreme Court’s new term: Arbitration, disparate impact on docket

11/02/2009

Several cases on the U.S. Supreme Court’s docket this term involve employment and labor-related issues. One of the most notable of these will decide how much time plaintiffs have to file a lawsuit when they believe they have been unfairly penalized by hiring tests. Other cases will resolve issues involving an alleged whistle-blower, pension benefits, race discrimination and labor arbitration.

Know the leave factors to consider when the FMLA and the ADA might both apply

11/02/2009

Many employers believe that if an employee needs accommodations for a disability that’s related to the same serious health condition covered by the FMLA, they don’t have to provide any additional leave once the employee has used 12 weeks of FMLA leave. That’s not always true. In fact, additional unpaid leave after FMLA leave has been exhausted may be a reasonable accommodation under the ADA.

Must we accommodate beliefs that don’t seem particularly ‘religious’?

11/02/2009

Q. We have an employee who claims to be a witch. She contends that witchcraft is her religion and has asked for certain holidays off. Are we required to accommodate this employee’s request?

Check your pay rates! Obvious male/female disparity is probably ‘willful’ discrimination

11/02/2009

The Equal Pay Act (EPA) makes it illegal to base unequal pay on gender. Employees have up to three years to sue after the last allegedly discriminatory paycheck if their employer’s violation was “willful,” and two years if it was not. Unfortunately, any obvious wage disparity is probably willful.

Can we require an exempt employee to use vacation time to coach his son’s sports team?

11/02/2009

Q. One of our supervisors wants to coach his son’s basketball team and has asked to leave work an hour early twice a week. We told him we do not have a problem with leaving early, but that he would have to use vacation time to cover the time lost. He refuses to do that and says we cannot dock his pay for the two hours because he is a salaried supervisor. Is that right?

Vermont company helps pay for employees’ solar panels

10/30/2009

Employees of Waterbury, Vt.-based Green Mountain Coffee Roasters are going green at home—and their employer is helping them pay for it. The specialty coffee company is the first organization to participate in the groSolar Employee Green Benefits Program, which offers group discounts on solar power systems for employees.

State to upgrade unemployment comp claims phone system

10/30/2009

Pennsylvania’s unemployment compensation system—dealing with unprecedented demand during the recession—gets an assist this fall thanks to a $6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor.