• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Employment Law

PNC’s policies for mothers earn a mix of praise and scorn

11/01/2006

Pittsburgh-based PNC Financial Services Group was cited twice last month: First by Working Mother magazine as one of the top 100 places for women to work, and then by the EEOC as a place where pregnancy discrimination is rife …

Requiring work during breaks: a $78 million mistake

11/01/2006

A Pennsylvania jury last month awarded a group of present and former Wal-Mart employees $78 million in damages because the mega-retailer forced the employees to work without pay …

N.J. supervisors can be held personally liable for job bias

11/01/2006

Want to scare your organization’s supervisors into complying with your employment policies? Point out that, under New Jersey law, they can be sued personally for their discriminatory actions. That means one on-the-job misstep can cost managers their homes, savings accounts and other personal assets to satisfy a court judgment …

Review policy wording to ensure no e-Mail privacy rights

11/01/2006

New Jersey employers have every right to monitor their employees’ e-mail messages and computer usage so long as they have a strong electronic communications policy. That’s true even if the content might otherwise fall under attorney-client privilege …

Contracts should agree to litigate disputes in N.J.

11/01/2006

If you use independent contractors or have your employees sign any type of employment contract, make sure those agreements state that both parties agree to litigate any disputes in New Jersey. If the contract is silent on the issue—or, worse, says the lawsuit forum must be California or another inconvenient place—you may end up spending thousands of dollars on travel and lost time …

If state orders back pay, worker can’t file a second suit

11/01/2006

Good news for New Jersey employers: When the New Jersey Department of Labor reviews an employee’s unpaid-overtime claim and orders back pay, the employee can’t file a separate lawsuit in federal court asking for more money and attorneys’ fees to boot. Labor’s decision is final; case closed …

You can fire managers who ignore harassment complaints

11/01/2006

The best harassment policy in the world isn’t worth the paper it’s written on if employees don’t take it seriously. To show your policy has teeth, you have to let it bite …

Check workers’ EEOC, PHRC claims for errors

11/01/2006

If you receive an EEOC or PHRC complaint, don’t jump the gun to answer the charges. Carefully inspect the documents. If you don’t question obvious problems now, such as lack of a verified signature, you lose the right to raise that issue later …

Lesson From Tiffany’s Lawsuit: Don’t Ban On-Site Breast-Feeding

11/01/2006

New Jersey employers can’t interfere with employees or customers who breast-feed their children in public, as Tiffany and Co. learned the hard way …

‘Meetings’ on Religion/Politics May Violate New Intimidation Law

11/01/2006

Make sure your managers and supervisors know that politics and religion are individual choices and don’t belong in the workplace. Otherwise, you could face stiff fines or penalties under New Jersey’s new Worker Freedom from Intimidation Law …