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Terminations

Under PTO policy, must we pay out unused leave upon employee’s termination?

03/12/2010

Q. We offer employees a set number of paid time off (PTO) days per year, which they may use for any reason, including vacation and sick days. Must we pay out all earned but unused PTO days upon termination?

When bosses hook up with subordinates, sparks may fly … in court

03/12/2010

In today’s litigious society it’s best for employers to set some ground rules on office romance. Adopt an anti-fraternization policy that bans relationships between employees who hold a boss/subordinate relationship. But take note: Employees who aren’t involved in an affair with the boss won’t necessarily win a sex discrimination lawsuit if they don’t get the perks their co-worker got.

Don’t let employees guess about being fired

03/12/2010

Employees and former employees have just 300 days to file their initial EEOC discrimination complaints. But that countdown doesn’t start until the “adverse employment action” they want to challenge has occurred. That means that the moment employees know they have been fired, the clock starts ticking.

No free-speech protection if job is to flag misconduct

03/12/2010

Government employees retain the right to free speech, and they can’t be punished for speaking out on matters of public importance. But if it’s part of an employee’s job to speak up, that protection doesn’t apply. Those employees are merely doing their jobs.

Boeing flying low following EEOC harassment settlements

03/12/2010

Chicago-based aerospace giant Boeing has agreed to pay $380,000 to settle two sexual harassment complaints filed by employees at its Mesa, Ariz., plant.

Did employee really quit? Track your efforts to find out

03/12/2010

Sometimes, employees get angry over some real or imagined slight and walk out. To make sure they really did quit and can’t claim constructive discharge, document your efforts to determine what happened.

Face age discrimination claims head on

03/11/2010

Here’s a twist, courtesy of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2009 Gross v. FBL Financial Services age discrimination decision. The court ruled that employees have to show that “but for” their age, their employer wouldn’t have fired them.

Keep track of all time off! Authorized leave counts toward employees’ FMLA eligibility

03/11/2010

If you grant time off to employees who aren’t yet eligible for FMLA leave, take note: If they’re on your payroll, their time off counts toward FMLA eligibility. That means that once they hit the one-year mark, they become entitled to those 12 unpaid FMLA weeks—and terminating them could launch an FMLA lawsuit. That wasn’t always the case …

Choose words carefully when challenging unemployment

03/11/2010

When you challenge an unemployment claim, what you say can come back to haunt you.

You can discipline worker whose griping boils over

03/11/2010

Some employees who believe they’ve been mistreated get so angry that they begin airing their grievances to co-workers. That can be a firing offense. Although you can’t ban employees from talking about wages or other conditions of employment, you can prohibit harassing conduct.