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But Do I Have to Fire Them?

Terminating an employee is an uneasy decision. Obviously, it negatively affects the employee, it’s stressful for everyone involved, and it can lower morale (thus affecting productivity) of other employees. Clearly, this is a situation we’d all prefer to avoid.

Hassle-free border crossings: What to do before U.S. national makes application at Canadian port of entry

by Gilda Villaran In 2015, a number of changes were announced to the procedures at Canadian ports of entry. Unfortunately, there continues to be a lack of awareness about these changes on the part of many U.S. companies that occasionally assign employees to work in Canada. As a result, some companies have been caught off […]

Do you have a Weiner in your workplace? Disciplining employees for off-duty misconduct

by Lauren E.M. Russell The most fortuitously named figure in modern politics is embroiled in yet another scandal: Former Congressman Anthony Weiner is back in the news because of a third round of sexting allegations. He has been suspended or terminated from two freelance writing positions because of the recent allegations against him. While a […]

DOL Awards Apprenticeship Program Grants

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) describes apprenticeships as “a proven path to high-quality, secure, middle-class jobs,” and in support of these programs, the DOL recently awarded $10.4 million in ApprenticeshipUSA State Accelerator Grants.

California Court Reminds Employers to Follow Their Own Policies

By Beth Kahn and Sigalit Shoghi, Morris Polich & Purdy LLP The California Court of Appeal has sent employers a message to be vigilant in following their policies and attentive to employees who request time off for medical conditions. A recent ruling against the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) made clear that an […]

Managing Medical Certifications: Authentication, Clarification, And Second Opinions

This article series covers managing medical certifications under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). In the previous article, we covered the how to request a medical certification, here we’ll go over authentication, clarification, and second opinions surrounding medical certification. The FMLA regulations offer procedures for authenticating and clarifying medical certifications.

Ask the Expert: Military Leave—Paid or Unpaid?

We have an employee that just came back from military leave. He did not present orders to HR or payroll and turned in a timecard with “5 days Military Leave” written across the week he was gone. Payroll paid him for that week and deducted 40 hours of leave. The employee came back stating that […]

Is Extra FMLA Leave an ADA Accommodation?

By Steve Jones, JD, Jack Nelson Jones & Bryant, P.A The U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals—which covers Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota—recently affirmed an Arkansas district court’s ruling that the termination of a juvenile detention officer didn’t amount to discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or retaliation […]