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Employment Law

Does the FMLA grant leave for foreign adoptions?

04/14/2011
Q. One of our employees is adopting a 5-year-old Ethiopian child and has asked for leave to travel to complete the adoption and bond with the child when they return to Minnesota. Does this count as FMLA leave, since it is not leave within the first year of the child’s life? If it does, is the travel time eligible for FMLA leave?

EBSA moves to rescue ‘orphan’ retirement benefits

04/14/2011
The DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Admin­is­tra­tion (EBSA) has sued Parkland Hotel Investors—once one of the Twin Cities’ biggest commercial financiers—in an attempt to distribute the company’s 401(k) assets to 96 former employees who participated in its retirement plan.

3M to settle age bias suit rooted in quality control plan

04/14/2011

3M Companies appears poised to settle a high-profile age discrimination suit. Earlier this year, the company filed a joint motion for preliminary ap­proval of a class-action settlement involving approximately 7,000 workers. If the Ramsey County District Court agrees, the employees (and their attorneys) will split $12 million.

Covered by union agreement? Its terms govern all contracts

04/14/2011
Employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement can’t claim additional quasi-contractual rights, as the following case shows.

Grant FMLA leave for pregnancy-related conditions

04/14/2011
Many employers think expectant ­mothers can take FMLA leave only for childbirth and baby bonding. They don’t realize that any medical appointments and pregnancy-related illnesses are also eligible for FMLA leave.

Don’t count on second opinion as an excuse to reject FMLA leave

04/14/2011

If an employee gets a certification showing he has a serious health condition under the FMLA, you can request a second, independent assessment. But if the second opinion says the condition isn’t serious, that’s not the final word. FMLA regulations require a third opinion as the tie-breaker.

Firing employee? Make sure he knows he really has been terminated

04/14/2011

Employees have tight deadlines for filing discrimination complaints. But the clock doesn’t start ticking on those deadlines until the employee knows he’s been fired. If you’re terminating someone, be sure to make that clear!

Exempt employee does some hourly work? Here’s how to preserve exempt classification

04/14/2011
Here’s some help for HR professionals trying to do all they can to safeguard their organization’s exempt/nonexempt employee classifications—especially in an economic climate that requires companies to do more with less:

How do the new Illinois Equal Pay Act rules affect my record-keeping obligations?

04/14/2011
Q. I’ve heard that there are new Illinois Equal Pay Act regulations I have to follow. Does this affect my record-keeping?

Did Elmhurst firm raid pensions? EBSA, SEC want to know

04/14/2011
Elmhurst-based Results One Finan­cial and its co-founder Steve Salutric face charges of diverting more than $1 million from pension funds it managed.