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Policies / Handbooks

Part-time, ‘as-needed’ employees can still sue for bias

02/01/2007

Employees can sue for discrimination if you illegally figure their race, sex, age, religion, disability or pregnancy status into their termination. That’s true even if an employee is a part-timer who works only a few hours on an as-needed basis …

Irony: Motherhood Maternity settles pregnancy-bias suit

02/01/2007

The EEOC has signaled that it will aggressively pursue employers that discriminate against pregnant applicants or employees. One ironic example: Motherhood Maternity has agreed to pay $375,000 to settle a pregnancy discrimination and retaliation lawsuit …

When (and how) can Pa. employees peek in their personnel files?

02/01/2007

The Pennsylvania Inspection of Employment Records Law guarantees employees the right to view their personnel files at work …

It’s up to employees to press harassment complaints

02/01/2007

While it’s vital to react promptly when employees formally file sexual harassment complaints, what do you do if they approach you informally and don’t want to make a formal complaint? …

Crude, foul-mouthed manager can easily spark a lawsuit

02/01/2007

HR professionals beware: Foul-mouthed managers are trouble, and the best policy is zero tolerance …

Super Steel settles bias suit

02/01/2007

Glenville locomotive manufacturer Super Steel Inc. settled a lawsuit by black workers who alleged racial discrimination by employees and supervisors. The lawsuit sought $175 million but the settlement amount was not specified …

Lessons from Wal-Mart’s employment-law missteps

02/01/2007

Wal-Mart bashing may be the new spectator sport in America, but the nation’s largest retailer is slowly learning some important lessons from a series of legal setbacks involving time and attendance records and managers’ misguided efforts at cost control …

Train managers on FMLA or risk paying double damages

02/01/2007

It’s more important than ever to teach supervisors how to listen for leave requests that could fall under the umbrella of a “serious” condition qualifying for FMLA relief. Otherwise, don’t expect to plead ignorance if they make a mistake …

Phone call monitoring: Are you breaking the law?

02/01/2007

A growing number of states require two-party consent to any monitoring or recording of business phone calls. And, if a recent court case is any guide, those states are ready to punish businesses that violate the rules even if the calls originate in a different state …

English-Only Policies

01/30/2007
HR Law 101: If you’re thinking of establishing an English-only policy for your workplace, be aware that you risk incurring the wrath of the EEOC. The agency is strongly opposed to English-only rules and will prosecute employers that commit this type of national-origin discrimination…