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Employment Law

House votes to make misclassifying independent contractors a third-Degree felony

07/24/2008
A bill approved by the state House in June—the Construction Industry Independent Contractor Act—would make intentionally misclassifying workers as independent contractors a third-degree felony for employers in residential or commercial construction. Cases of negligence would constitute a summary offense …

Workplace bullying by managers: Unpleasant, but is it illegal?

07/24/2008
According a recent Zogby International survey, 37% of U.S. workers report that they’ve been bullied at work. Not surprisingly, they say, the overwhelming majority (72%) of bullies are bosses. Workplace bullying is harassment that’s not necessarily based on an employee’s protected characteristic, such as gender or race. But, unlike harassment based on a protected class, bullying may not be illegal …

Exempt employees and negative leave balances

07/24/2008
Q. I know I must pay exempt employees their full salaries even if they have no accrued benefits in their leave plans and their accounts have negative balances. But can I keep negative balance tallies and then subtract the negative balances as the employees earn more leave? …

Employee handbooks: Are they mandatory?

07/24/2008
Q. We have never had an employee handbook. Do we need one? If so, how do we start? …

Pregnancy discrimination law covers women who’ve had abortions

07/24/2008

By now you know that employers can’t fire or otherwise punish employees because they’re pregnant. But what about employees who choose to have an abortion? Make sure your supervisors know it’s illegal to discriminate against them, too.

Time for a snap inspection: Make sure bulletin boards don’t show signs of bias

07/22/2008
If you want to make sure all managers and supervisors are playing by the nondiscrimination and no harassment rules, get out of the office and onto the shop floor. Someone from HR must visit each and every work location regularly—but unannounced …

Is that leave legit? You can discipline for FMLA ‘Vacation’

07/22/2008
Do you suspect that some of your employees take FMLA leave for something a little less serious than tending to the health care needs of themselves or their relatives? If so, here’s some good news: You can and should check up on suspicious FMLA usage …

Lilly settles retaliation suit

07/22/2008
Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. has agreed to pay $64,400 to a former employee who claimed the company withheld severance pay to pressure her to withdraw a discrimination complaint …

Alcoa must defend its religious accommodation policies

07/22/2008
Timothy Walker began working at Alcoa’s Lafayette plant in 1995. He was also a pastor at his church. In May 1998, Walker was appointed head pastor, and he asked Alcoa if he could be excused from working Sunday shifts at the plant …

Gas pains: Compressed workweek can help workers manage high prices

07/22/2008
Employees across the country are finding their budgets stretched by rising gas prices, and that means employers are feeling pressured by the pump, too. Companies are struggling to find ways to help workers deal with high prices without raising pay. One of the most popular ways employers are dealing with the problem is to implement a compressed workweek …