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Employment Law

Court: Tailor complaint procedure to ‘Average’ worker

01/01/2008

When was the last time you read your company’s harassment reporting procedures? Could all employees in your organization understand how—and with whom—to file a complaint? It’s important to ask these questions in the wake of a new court ruling that should give you incentive to cut the legalese and confusion out of your reporting procedures …

Show fairness by documenting all rule violations, discipline

01/01/2008

You must be prepared to show that you treated each and every employee equally when it comes to discipline. Otherwise, you may find yourself in the same situation as, in the following case, an employer that couldn’t recall how it had disciplined a white employee for violating an attendance rule, but fired a black employee for the same infraction …

When’s a handbook not a handbook? When everyone ignores it

01/01/2008

No doubt, your organization has an employee handbook. You may even have helped draft it or agonized over the amount of money you paid a law firm to create or review it. But one thing is certain—having a handbook won’t do you any good if no one in the company uses it …

Require an applicant medical exam? Job offer must come first

01/01/2008

The ADA protects job applicants from discrimination based on disability, and one of these protections is the right to be free from medical tests or examinations as part of the initial selection process. An employer can ask an applicant to undergo a job-related medical examination only after it has made a job offer …

Interviewers must ask consistent questions, take good notes

01/01/2008

When it comes to promotions, be sure that management team members in charge of interviews are all on the same page. That means ensuring they ask all candidates exactly the same questions and make thorough notes about each applicant …

Exempt/Nonexempt call: Don’t rely entirely on Labor Department opinion letters

01/01/2008

Over the past two years, the U.S. Labor Department has been issuing “opinion letters” fairly frequently, interpreting its own new overtime regulations and addressing specific questions posed by employers. But not every court will agree with the Labor Department’s opinion …

Suspect employee plays fast and loose with FMLA leave? Check medical certification

01/01/2008

Employers are entitled to information about the FMLA intermittent leave employees take and can request certification from the employee’s health care providers. Employers then have to abide by the certification—unless the employer receives information that casts doubt on the certification …

Philadelphia DEA agents allege reverse discrimination

01/01/2008

Opening arguments began in December in the federal civil trial of two U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents based in Philadelphia who are suing the U.S. Justice Department for reverse discrimination. George Marthers III and Jude McKenna, who are white, allege black former supervisors harassed them so severely that both men had to take medical leave …

Office love affair plus sales tips lead straight to court

01/01/2008

Jane Roberti worked as a loan officer for Allentown’s Becker Subaru. Her live-in boyfriend, Mark Wynne, also worked there as a salesman. Roberti’s responsibilities included funneling Internet sales leads to the salespeople. When employees began to complain that Roberti routed the best leads to Wynne, management counseled both to keep their personal and professional lives separate …

Black construction worker says he paid for speaking out

01/01/2008

Paul Solomon says he’s been blackballed as a troublemaker since he complained that a white co-worker taunted him with a noose in October at the Comcast Center construction site in Philadelphia …