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Employment Law

EEOC: Company illegally used credit, criminal records

10/27/2009

The EEOC has cited national convention marketing firm Freeman Companies with discriminatory hiring practices based on the company’s use of applicants’ credit scores and criminal background checks in hiring. According to the complaint, the credit and criminal background checks are neither job related nor of business necessity. The EEOC alleges they screen out otherwise qualified women and minority candidates.

When figuring time worked, you must round in employee’s favor

10/27/2009

The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL) has changed its enforcement policy regarding the rounding of employees’ time for wage payment purposes. A recent letter from Theodore Easton, chief of enforcement for the NJDOL, confirmed that if a New Jersey employer rounds off any increment of time an employee has worked, it must now be done in the employee’s favor.

Beware disciplining employees for FMLA-related tardiness

10/26/2009

Employees eligible for intermittent FMLA leave are entitled to take that leave at the beginning of their scheduled shifts if they need to. While that may make them late for work, you can’t punish that tardiness, as long as the employee follows your call-in policies and the underlying reason for being late is related to intermittent FMLA leave.

Check calendar when employee files lawsuit covered by employment agreement

10/26/2009

A federal court hearing a North Carolina case has dismissed a discrimination lawsuit based on failure to file that lawsuit within a shortened time limit that the parties had agreed they would use.

EEOC charges Mount Gilead modular builder with race bias

10/26/2009

According to an EEOC complaint, Professional Building Systems has subjected African-American employees at its headquarters in Mount Gilead to harassment that included drawings depicting the workers and members of the Ku Klux Klan.

How one missing poster doomed an Atlantic City hotel

10/25/2009

Outdated workplace posters aren’t just a minor mistake that, at worst, could trigger only a small fine. As a new court ruling shows, poster mistakes can actually breathe new life into supposedly dead employment lawsuits …

10 minutes well-spent: Audit your employee bulletin board

10/23/2009

When was the last time you reviewed your company’s bulletin boards in the break room or alongside the time clock? Do they show the correct, updated federal- and state-law posters? A little time spent seeing what’s there—and what’s missing—will keep you in compliance with state and federal laws.

Pay attention to spontaneous bias complaint

10/23/2009

Employees who complain about alleged discrimination engage in what is commonly called “protected activity”—and that means they can’t be punished for doing so. Thus, it’s illegal to retaliate against an employee who goes to HR to report possible discrimination. But what about employees who never come forward on their own, but who simply respond to a supervisor’s question about equal treatment? Are they also protected?

Track older workers’ training opportunities

10/23/2009

Technology changes fast, and so do the skills employees need to succeed in their jobs. But some employees don’t feel comfortable taking the steps needed to adapt. If those employees happen to be older and you end up having to replace them, you could face an age discrimination lawsuit. You can avoid such lawsuits with a good skill-building plan …

You can punish employees for improperly sharing salary information—in some cases

10/23/2009

By federal law, employees have the right to discuss salaries and benefits with one another. Plus, in North Carolina, members of the public also have the right to specific information about public employees’ salaries. That does not mean, however, that public employers can’t reprimand employees who break rules against distributing that information in a way that creates conflict or animosity.