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Disabled woman says McDonald’s refused to serve her

10/01/2007

An Illinois woman who suffers from Holt-Oram syndrome, a condition where the sufferer’s arms and hands are underdeveloped, sued McDonald’s after employees refused to allow her to pick up her drive-through ordered food with her feet …

Even isolated comments can trigger age discrimination suits

10/01/2007

Train managers and supervisors: No age-related comments! None. A simple sentence might not form the entire basis for an age discrimination lawsuit, but it can add fuel to an otherwise-smoldering case …

Train managers: Sexual-Orientation comments are off limits

10/01/2007

The California Fair Employment and Housing Act bars employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. In fact, the law clearly states, “Freedom from employment discrimination on account of sexual orientation is a civil right.” Make sure supervisors know: Comments about an employee’s sexual orientation simply aren’t appropriate in the workplace. They’ll lead to trouble …

In New Jersey, even employee’s spouse can bring lawsuit—For indirect damages

10/01/2007

Need another reason to train supervisors and managers not to discriminate? Here’s one: In New Jersey, an employee’s spouse can join in a lawsuit alleging intentional infliction of emotional distress caused by an employer …

Fire offender to decouple discrimination, employment action

10/01/2007

Remind upper-level managers: When a supervisor or mid-level manager makes comments that could be construed as racist or religiously motivated, it pays to act fast. In fact, firing the responsible manager sometimes can be the best way to go. That way, if the employee he disparaged later gets turned down for a promotion or a raise, it will be much harder for an attorney to show a connection between the supervisor’s biased views and the denied opportunity …

Large firms reward doctors for quality

10/01/2007

Want the doctors who care for your employees to do a better job? Reward them when they do. That’s the trend among large organizations such as Verizon, General Electric and Duke Energy, which will begin paying rewards on Jan. 1 to physicians who improve the quality of care …

Employee References: Sample Release Form

09/28/2007
White Paper published by The HR Specialist, copyright 2007 ______________________ It’s a smart legal move to require employees to sign a waiver releasing your organization from liability for providing truthful employment references. The following is a sample Employment Reference Release form that was adapted from several state bar associations’ employment law groups. You can use […]

Prepare employees for benefits changes or lose their trust

09/25/2007

As your organization shifts more responsibility to employees to manage their own health and retirement expenses, you risk alienating your work force. But it doesn’t have to be that way …

Cut health insurance costs by uncovering ineligible dependents

09/25/2007

Employers are looking for ways to cut health care costs, which continue to rise each year. One of the easiest ways to trim that expensive bill: Make sure each employee’s dependents are actually eligible for coverage. Here’s how to conduct an eligibility audit.

Are you overpaying staff for pre- and post-Work activities?

09/25/2007

The good news: Recent court rulings say you generally don’t have to pay for the time employees spend preparing for their workday, such as waiting in security lines or putting on generic headgear and work boots. The bad news: These kinds of cases continue to find their way into court, and the issue seems far from settled. Keep your lawyer’s phone number handy.