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Employee Relations

Alcoholics may be protected by ADA, but don’t tolerate at-work drinking

04/01/2004
You may be surprised to discover that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) may protect workers who are alcoholics, even if they currently drink. To earn ADA protection, an alcoholic’s addiction …

Attendance policy: Control absenteeism without breaking the law

04/01/2004
THE LAW. Regular attendance is obviously a key job function for most of your employees. But despite your freedom to set and enforce attendance rules, you also face key legal …

Post injury/illness summary until April 30 this year

03/01/2004
Between Feb. 1 and April 30, many U.S. employers must post a summary of the number of job-related injuries and illnesses that occurred in their workplace last year. Your organization can …

Not complying with new COBRA notice rules yet? Don’t panic

03/01/2004
The U.S. Labor Department published new rules last year saying that companies offering health insurance must give employees more specifics on their rights to COBRA continuing health coverage.
The rules …

Develop rules for using cell phones while driving

03/01/2004

Q. One of our managers was talking on his company cell phone when he struck and injured a pedestrian. Can the pedestrian sue the company? —P.L., Washington

Keep injury/illness summary posted until April 30

03/01/2004
Reminder: Keep your summary of job-related injuries and illnesses that occurred in your workplace last year posted until April 30. (Prior to 2003, you had to post that data only through …

Most employers fail to follow layoff-notice rules

03/01/2004
Expect federal regulators to look closer for organizations failing to comply with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act. The law requires certain employers to give 60 days’ notice of …

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 …

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