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DOL Offers Disability Law Advisor Tool Online

The Department of Labor (DOL) has a tool available on its website for employers that want to make sure their policies and practices don’t discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities. The online Disability Nondiscrimination Law Advisor, available at www.dol.gov/elaws/odep.htm, helps employers determine which federal disability nondiscrimination laws apply to their business, including: Title I of […]

News Notes: Poor Performance Review Leads to $517,000 Age Discrimination Verdict

A 56-year-old facilities coordinator who claimed her performance review was downgraded to justify her termination has been awarded $517,077 in damages. Dion Woodward sued Kaiser Foundation Hospital in Los Angeles for age discrimination after she was fired and allegedly replaced with a 38-year-old. Woodward worked for Kaiser for 31 years and claimed she always received […]

Progressive discipline prevails—even where harassment proven

By Keri Bennett When a long-service costume designer was dismissed following a workplace harassment investigation, a British Colombia arbitrator found the company’s no-hire ban for all future productions to be excessive, since there was a lack of progressive discipline. Despite finding that the fired employee had engaged in longstanding and widespread harassment of junior employees, […]

Class of 2014: Will new grads fill employers’ needs?

The 2014 wave of college graduates has hit the employment shore, providing employers with a flood of eager applicants ready to put their newly acquired skills to work. But are they landing on solid ground or shifting sand? Some statistics indicate the terrain is more stable than in recent years, but the road is still […]

New I-9 Form Delayed for 60 Days

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced a 60-day delay in implementing the new Form I-9 for employment eligibility verification for new hires. The new I-9 forms were to take effect February 2, but a seemingly last-minute decision was made on January 30 to delay implementation of the I-9 forms and their accompanying […]

Facebook postings fair game for employers

By Frederic Parisien Can Canadian employers use information from their employees’ Facebook pages in managing the employment relationship? Not an age-old question, but one debated in recent years. In many provinces, the answer was “yes.” But in other provinces, such as Quebec, some commentators took a more cautious approach. In a recent decision, the appeal […]

Federal Court: Allow Clarification to Avoid FMLA Interference

By Jeffrey A. Gruen  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit— which covers Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania—recently found that an employer can be liable for interference with an employee’s Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) rights when it denies leave on the basis of a vague medical certification without first providing notice […]

HR and Legal: Can’t We All Just Get Along?

By BLR Founder and CEO Bob Brady You know you’ve been there: The legal department is advising you to do something that has no bearing on the real-life world of the workplace. “Just have managers stop inflating their performance ratings.” Sure, that will happen. “Keep employees from clocking in early.” Yeah, right. You know you’re […]