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Employment Law

You can enforce ‘last-chance’ pacts with on-the-ropes employees

01/01/2004
Last-chance agreements are signed pacts between employers and employees that provide workers accused of serious misconduct one last chance to shape up. They’re common in cases involving alcohol abuse, drug abuse …

Don’t break severance promise, you may be personally liable

01/01/2004
A company president refused to fully honor employee Donald Chisholm’s severance agreement, even though it was clearly spelled out in Chisholm’s employment contract. So Chisholm sued for breach of contract and …

Compliments on dress and hair don’t equal sex harassment

01/01/2004
A female supervisor repeatedly complimented a female customer service rep on her choice of jewelry, clothing and hairstyle. The rep sued, alleging the constant comments were harassing and constituted a hostile …

Not all ADD, ADHD diagnoses qualify as protected ‘disability’

01/01/2004
Unfortunately, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) doesn’t come with a laundry list of conditions that qualify as disabilities. So what about attention deficit disorder (ADD) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder …

You can set ‘no rehire’ policy for workers fired for misconduct

01/01/2004
The Supreme Court last month handed employers more power to set and enforce policies that deny rehiring to employees fired for misconduct. The court said such “no-rehire” policies are valid reasons …

Is quitting the same as being fired?

01/01/2004
The Supreme Court agreed last month to clarify a vexing question about employer liability in sexual harassment cases: Do employees who quit and then claim harassment possess the same rights as …

When facing a bias lawsuit, avoid these three dumb defenses

01/01/2004
Your organization can defend itself against race discrimination lawsuits in many ways, but a recent ruling illustrates how three excuses will flop in court …

Don’t punish staff for off-site political comments, but at work, it’s your call

01/01/2004
As the calendar turns to an election year, here’s a good point to remind managers: Don’t retaliate against employees or applicants simply because of their off-duty political activities and comments …

New discrimination risk: Short versus tall applicants

01/01/2004
A new, well-publicized study could raise skepticism, and potential legal complaints, by shorter employees about your pay practices.
Taller employees earn more money and promotional opportunities, says the University of …

Check your FLSA compliance; Fed penalties reach 11-year high

01/01/2004
The Labor Department’s beefed-up compliance audits and prosecutions of Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) complaints packed a wallop last year. Total back wages collected for workers in
fiscal 2003 jumped …