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Q&A

Leave by any other name is still FMLA leave

12/01/2007

Q. Can we require our employees to specifically request “Family and Medical Leave” or “FMLA leave” in order to trigger our duty to provide them certification forms? …

Can the ‘Paperless office’ work in an HR environment?

12/01/2007

Q. Our office manager wants to move to a paperless system. Are there any documents that we must maintain in paper form? …

Can direct deposit be compulsory?

12/01/2007

Q. Can we require employees to use direct deposit? …

Religious accommodation and seniority

12/01/2007

Q. We are a nonunion plant that uses a seniority-based bidding system for work shifts. A recent hire has complained that due to his lack of seniority, he is consistently being scheduled to work on Saturday, which is his Sabbath. Do we have to accommodate his religion by honoring his request to never work on Saturdays? …

Can we dock sick time for exempt employees?

12/01/2007
Q. Will I risk losing an employee’s exempt status if I deduct from his or her wages for full-day absences of one or more days?

Pre-Employment inquiries and the ADA

12/01/2007

Q. Can an employer ask a job applicant whether he or she can meet the company’s attendance policy? …

What are the rules on access to personnel files for employees outside Texas?

12/01/2007
Q. If a Texas-based company has divisions in several other states, does the Texas law allowing employers to deny employees a look at their personnel files still apply?

Can we deduct money owed from employee’s last paycheck?

11/01/2007

Q. An employee of ours owes the company about $450. He rented a car using our company charge card and never repaid us. Now he has submitted a resignation letter. Can we deduct the $450 from his final pay? …

Is office gambling a legal bet?

11/01/2007

Q. A senior vice president in our company wants to run a Super Bowl pool. A few of us are nervous about conducting office pools involving money. We don’t expect the company will profit from such a pool, although the individual vice president could win the pool. Are office pools like these legal in New York? …

On applications, arrests off limits; convictions fair game—With limits

11/01/2007

Q. Our employment application asks, “Have you ever been arrested? If so, list the nature of the arrest.” Is this legal? …