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Employment Law

Does destination of FMLA leave matter?

02/01/2008

Q. We are an Illinois-based company and have an employee whose mother is very sick with cancer and in need of medical care at home. The employee is entitled to FMLA leave. The issue is that the mother lives in Hawaii and he has asked for leave starting next month. I don’t mean to be “cold,” but it sounds like a vacation from our bitter winter. Must we grant the leave for him to go to Hawaii? …

Considering an employee hotline, but worried about anonymous complaints

02/01/2008

Q. We don’t have a hotline for employees to call to complain about harassment, discrimination or retaliation. We have been considering one, but we are concerned about anonymous complaints. Should we set up one anyway? …

Don’t reject convicted felons unless you have legitimate business reason

02/01/2008

Q. Our hiring process involves conducting background and reference checks. If an employee has a felony conviction within the past seven years, we automatically refuse employment. Any reason we should change our policy? …

How can we help an employee who is receiving harassing phone calls?

02/01/2008

Q. We have an employee who comes to work and performs very well. Over the past several months I have come to learn that she is constantly receiving harassing calls and threats from her husband. We feel helpless and want to do something but we don’t offer employee assistance programs. What are our options? …

Complaining that schedule is discriminatory may be protected

02/01/2008

Not every complaint to a manager constitutes protected activity, but some do. If an employee complains about what she reasonably believes is discrimination—using language that should tip off her employer that she’s raising discrimination—the complaint is protected …

Tell supervisors: Absolutely no ethnic comments allowed

02/01/2008

What seems like a joke to members of the majority can be deeply hurtful to members of a minority. These days, that’s a particular issue in areas with a large concentration of people of Middle Eastern heritage—such as Michigan. As the “war on terror” shows no signs of abating, it makes sense to remind managers and supervisors to stay away from any comments on ethnicity …

Public employees may have right to run web site critical of employer

02/01/2008

The Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC) has taken the position that, like the federal National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), it can order an employee to be reinstated if a public employer punished him for speaking publicly about workplace issues …

State employees’ payroll deductions to fund PACs

02/01/2008

The Michigan Civil Service Commission voted 3-1 in December to allow state workers to have political donations deducted from their paychecks, despite warnings from the attorney general’s office that the commission lacks the authority to grant that right …

Caro Carbide faces suit for sexual harassment, retaliation

02/01/2008

Since 1979, Donna Smith had worked as a shipping and receiving clerk for Caro Carbide Corp., a carbide machine shop in Troy. From 1988 forward, Smith claims co-worker Timothy Sylver displayed pornographic photos and made lewd gestures and comments toward her at work …

Mandatory arbitration agreements won’t always save you money

02/01/2008

Civil court cases can cost employers large amounts of time and money to resolve. Increasingly, employers have embraced arbitration as a way to curb these costs. But before you have all employees sign arbitration agreements, be sure to consider all the costs. You may find that arbitration isn’t the cost-effective strategy you think it is …