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Employment Law

Granting reasonable accommodation isn’t enough–you must make sure it actually happens

05/04/2011

It’s one thing to grant a reasonable accommodation request. It’s another thing entirely to make the accommodation happen. Once you have approved an accommodation, someone from HR must ensure the decision is implemented.

Does PDA cover cases of in vitro fertilization?

05/04/2011
Until now, courts have frequently concluded that a woman who is fired for undergoing fertility treatments—that is, fired before becoming pregnant—probably isn’t covered by the Pregnancy Dis­crimination Act. But now a court has concluded that women who undergo in vitro fertilization efforts are protected under the PDA. That’s because only women can undergo the process.

Don’t take the rap for harassment after hours

05/04/2011

Courts are beginning to realize that there is only so much an employer can do to prevent sexual harassment. Take, for example, off-duty and off-premises sexual harassment. While employers probably are responsible for a supervisor’s sexual assault or harassment, chances are they won’t be held liable for the same conduct by a co-worker.

Dallas company stiffed workers, now will pay back overtime

05/03/2011
A staffing company that provides workers for major hotels in the Dallas-Fort Worth area has agreed to pay more than $242,000 to employees after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation uncovered Fair Labor Standards Act violations.

NLRB presses first case involving Twitter posts

05/03/2011
Employees have the right to discuss working conditions, whether face-to-face around the water cooler or in the online world. The National Labor Relations Board seems intent on making sure employers understand that social media posts are protected, too. Hot on the heels of a decision involving Facebook, the NLRB is now tackling Twitter. Tip: Time for you to develop a social media policy.

Fill-in shows promise? That’s legit reason for hiring

05/03/2011
Sometimes, managers have to act fast to fill a position. It’s reasonable to let someone take the job temporarily. If she does well, it’s perfectly acceptable to use that performance as a reason to offer the job permanently.

Enforce e-mail usage rules–if only to avoid PR nightmare

05/03/2011
If you let employees ignore reasonable restrictions on how they use company e-mail and other communications tools, you may find yourself having to scramble to prevent embarrassing information from becoming public.

Lessons from LEAP 2011

05/03/2011
Last month, The HR Specialist hosted the 7th annual Labor  & Employment Law Advanced Practices (LEAP) Symposium in Las Vegas. Here are a few nuggets of insight and advice from the more than 30 attorney speakers:

Withholding taxes from arbitration award lands employer in court

05/02/2011
A federal trial court has directed an employer that appropriately withheld payroll taxes from an arbitration award to pay back the amount withheld to the employee. An employer must obey an arbitration award to the letter, the court ruled.

Download new USCIS handbook to prepare for I-9 audits

05/02/2011
Are your I-9s in order? More and more employers are finding themselves under scrutiny from inspectors from the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Employers now have a new tool to help them stay on the right side of the law.