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Policies / Handbooks

Banning Unsolicited Résumés

04/01/2002

Q. Our company doesn’t want to consider unsolicited résumés as applicants. We are trying to come up with a legally sound definition for “applicant” so we can write an official policy. —H.D., Wisconsin

A few brief incidents can create ‘pervasive’ harassment

03/01/2002
Three Hispanic men were hired as a house-painting crew for a contractor. Typically, the crew checked into the company’s office for only two minutes to 15 minutes a day, once in …

Definition of ‘work environment’ just got wider–so did your risk

03/01/2002
During a layover in Rome, two Delta flight attendants went shopping. Afterward, the male employee invited his female co-worker to his hotel room to sample a new wine. After drinking a …

Reject accommodation requests that harm business relationships

03/01/2002
Elizabeth Anderson, an office worker for a shipping firm, regularly ended her conversations and written communications with customers with the words, “Have a blessed day.” After her employer got a …

Ease strict noncompete pacts or risk wrongful discharge claim

03/01/2002
As part of a merger, Aetna U.S. Healthcare required employees to sign an agreement barring them from working for a competitor in the same state for two years or any competitor …

Capping Sick Pay

03/01/2002

Q. One of our managers has medical problems (she qualifies for the ADA and is in an age-protected class) and has used a significant amount of sick pay. Because we don’t have a defined sick pay policy, this manager is paid sick time whenever she’s out (full day or half day). How can we legally cap this? Is the development of a policy with specific hours our only alternative? —F.E., Georgia

Don’t fear ‘cybersmear’; go after employees who libel you online

02/01/2002
Research scientist Michelangelo Delfino was fired for harassing fellow workers at a medical lab. A co-worker, Mary Day, resigned two months later. Soon after, the pair used the Internet to unleash …

States up the ante in harassment liability

02/01/2002
Two pivotal Supreme Court decisions in 1998 gave employers a powerful new weapon to defend themselves when sued because of harassment by a supervisor. But recent rulings in a handful of …

Employees must ‘fess up about their need for leave

02/01/2002
Linda Collins’ attendance record at work was spotty at best. Her employer warned her more than a dozen times, including four formal warnings. But when she again called in sick two …

When bias goes companywide, class-action lawsuits will follow

02/01/2002
Two recent rulings illustrate how more workers are seeking, and winning, class-action status in charges of companywide discrimination. Case 1. In December, a federal court in Illinois paved the way …