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Terminations

When RIF affects someone who complained, prepare to show your process was fair

06/28/2016
If you ever have to consider cutting staff via a reduction in force, be sure to consider who among your employees might feel aggrieved enough to cause big legal trouble.

‘Resign or be fired’ may be the riskiest offer

06/24/2016
Have you ever presented an employee the option to resign or get fired? Maybe you believed you were helping the employee to graciously exit the workplace without the embarrassment of a termination.

Keep an eye out for bosses who manipulate layoff list

06/23/2016
Before you approve a reduction in force, make sure supervisors don’t use the layoffs as a way to get rid of employees they don’t like.

Fire away! Whistleblowing doesn’t excuse wrongdoing

06/22/2016
Some employees seem to believe that as long as they engage in whistleblowing, they’re immune from getting fired. That’s not true.

Government employer? Before firing, weigh employee’s policy role, free speech

06/22/2016
Recently the U.S. Supreme Court concluded that a public employee cannot be discharged because he may have supported his boss’s opponent in an election. Now, however, a federal court has limited the impact of the ruling for employees whose positions involve policymaking or employee confidentiality.

Go figure: Drunk at work means no unemployment

06/17/2016
Employers don’t have to tolerate intoxicated employees. That’s willful misconduct that bars receiving unemployment benefits.

After bias lawsuit, reinstatement is easy; it’s not always recommended

06/17/2016
One remedy for discrimination is reinstatement. However, employers should be prepared to argue against reinstatement if there are reasons unrelated to a lawsuit that it is not a workable option. Here’s how one employer did that.

Investigate before jumping into action

06/17/2016
Don’t worry if you need to take some time to investigate whether an employee broke a workplace rule and should be terminated. While a speedy resolution may be easy sometimes, other cases take time and deserve a thorough investigation.

Beware unexpected peril of undoing termination

06/09/2016
Something to consider if you have an internal system for handling disciplinary appeals: Reversing a disciplinary action like a termination could be used against you later as proof of retaliation.

Beware basing layoff on inconsistent ratings

05/31/2016
Here’s a reminder that it’s not always foolproof to base a reduction-in-force on rankings of employee performance.