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Discrimination / Harassment

Offering disability benefits isn’t admitting disability

06/04/2012
Offering disability benefits to an employee doesn’t prevent an em­­ployer from later contending that the employee is not actually disabled.

Angry employee announces, ‘I quit!’? Tell him you accept his resignation

06/04/2012

Adjusting to a new supervisor can be hard, especially if work assignments are changing at the same time. It can start to feel like a conspiracy to some employees. If sufficiently frustrated, the employee may quit in a huff. Sometimes, your best bet is to accept that resignation.

Employees fighting? Sort out facts, punish accordingly

06/01/2012
Having rules against fighting doesn’t necessarily make it easy to punish employees when punches fly. The best approach: Figure out who did what to whom, and in what order.

When employees are bilingual, it’s OK to require use of English in the workplace

05/31/2012

Employers can typically require em­­ployees to speak English when interacting with customers and clients, as long as the employer enforces the rule across the board. What you can’t do: Allow some employees to use one foreign language but punish others for using a third language.

Back ‘gut’ decisions with objective criteria

05/30/2012

Most managers want to choose the best candidate for the job. But assessing what constitutes “best” can often feel a bit subjective. That’s OK. Just make sure you can point to some objective factor that backs up your choice.

EEOC’s new guidance on criminal background checks

05/30/2012
Earlier this year, the EEOC issued up­­dated guidance on how employers should use arrest and con­­viction records when making hiring decisions. If you use criminal background checks to screen applicants and employees, this affects you! Fact: Checks that were once routine are now under the gun.

Reporter fired for stripping files EEOC discrimination suit

05/30/2012
A former Houston Chronicle reporter has filed a sex discrimination complaint against the newspaper claiming she was illegally fired for failing to inform her bosses that she was moonlighting—as a stripper.

‘Hispanic’ may indicate race or national origin

05/30/2012
When an employee or applicant wants to initiate a race or national-origin discrimination case, the first step is filing an EEOC complaint. The forms include boxes to check, designating the kind of bias alleged.

Good judgment, thorough documentation win cases

05/30/2012
Your organization will be sued at some point. That’s why you should make sure every employment decision is backed by good judgment. Document the decision for later use.

Be prepared to explain why hiring criteria favor experience more than education

05/30/2012
Some jobs demand relevant, real-world work experience. If a failed applicant sues, claiming a college degree should have trumped on-the-job experience, you’ll probably win—if you can justify your experience requirements.