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Q&A

Harassment after off-site party: Must we investigate?

03/29/2012
Q. We have an annual off-site company party, with alcohol. We pay for half the hotel room cost if people want to stay over. An alleged harassment event occurred in a hotel room around 2 a.m. What is our potential liability? And do we have to investigate the complaint … ?

How does the state’s civil union law affect employer-provided health benefits?

03/22/2012
Q. How does the Illinois Religious Freedom Pro­­tec­­tion and Civil Union Act affect health benefits?

How does Illinois’ civil union law interact with federal discrimination laws?

03/22/2012
Q. How does the Illinois Religious Freedom Pro­tec­­tion and Civil Union Act affect an employer’s obligations under federal law?

What are the implications for employers of Illinois’ new civil union law?

03/22/2012
Q. We are aware that the Illinois Civil Union Act is in effect. Could you please tell us more about it?

Roads closed due to emergency: Still pay staff?

03/20/2012
Q. During snowstorms and floods, the government sometimes declares a state of emergency in certain counties. No one is permitted to be on roads except essential employees and emergency vehicles. Do we have to pay employees who can’t come to work because of the restrictions?

Is there a grace period for paying overtime?

03/19/2012
Q. We couldn’t obtain the amount of overtime one of our employees worked in time to include payment for those hours in the current payroll period. We understand that untimely payment of wages could expose our company to penalties. May we issue a paycheck to the employee for his regular hours worked and include his overtime payment in the following pay period?

Confidential comp: Can we ban talk of pay?

03/15/2012
Q. I’m confused about what we can do to restrict gossiping over pay. We think it’s nobody’s business and our pay rates are based on a number of factors. Can’t we tell new employees that we consider compensation levels confidential?

What are the criteria for unpaid internships?

03/14/2012
Q. We would like to hire a few college interns over the summer, but with our tight budget, I don’t think we can pay them. What rules apply to unpaid internships?

What if we can’t set up direct deposit fast enough to deliver final paycheck in time?

03/14/2012
Q. A recently terminated employee demanded immediate payment of his wages and asked us to directly deposit the check into his bank account. I know that Minnesota law requires us to pay the wages through the employee’s last day of employment within 24 hours of his demand. While this employee was normally paid through direct deposit, we cannot coordinate a direct deposit within 24 hours. Can we just send the employee a check by mail?

Must we reveal salary before offering promotion?

03/09/2012
Q. Do we have to tell employees exactly how much they will be making before we offer them a promotion?