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Employment Law

Stop FMLA moonlighters with strict ‘no moonlighting on leave’ policy

07/01/2003
It seems crazy that your employees can use their allotted 12 weeks of annual job-protected leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to work at a second job. But …

Title VII: Employees who sue for bias have easier path to victory.

07/01/2003
In a decision that elevates your legal risk in discrimination cases, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that employees no longer need to show direct evidence …

FMLA: State workers can sue for FMLA violations, too.

07/01/2003
In a shift from its recent trend of holding states immune from federal law, the Supreme Court affirmed the right of state employees to file lawsuits relating to the Family …

Blonde hair won’t earn employees Title VII proctection.

07/01/2003
A female worker with blonde hair sued her employer, claiming that her boss’s comments about her tresses were sexist and sexual. A district court ruled that the comments, …

Mentioning employees’ body odor isn’t discriminatory.

07/01/2003
A Muslim IT manager sued for national origin bias, claiming that his supervisor’s comments about his personal hygiene, not performance problems, were the true cause …

Require staff to arbitrate disputes; court upholds ‘partially legal’ pact

07/01/2003
Don’t be leery of requiring employees to sign mandatory arbitration agreements. As the following ruling shows, even if a court disagrees with part of your agreement, …

Comp-time reform bill dealt
major setback in Congress

07/01/2003
Legislators shelved a bill last month that would allow private-sector companies to offer compensatory time to employees in lieu of overtime pay, due in large part to intense protests from organized …

Warning: Feds looking closer at your use of L-1 hiring visas

07/01/2003

A growing number of high-tech workers are complaining that they’re losing jobs not only to foreign workers overseas but also to foreign workers who enter the United States under the little-known L-1 visa category …

Drug testing: Minimize lawsuit risk with smart policy

07/01/2003
THE LAW. You have the right to demand a drug-free workplace, but employees also have reasonable rights to privacy. That’s why drug testing and substance abuse prevention …

Dyslexia and the ADA: Don’t Screen for Disability

07/01/2003

Q. Is dyslexia considered a disability under the ADA? Can we legally screen potential employees for it through our pre-employment tests? —F.D., Ohio