Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Unemployment is high, and employment litigation is increasing. We’re seeing more wrongful discharge, discrimination, and wage cases than ever. What will you do if your business is served with a lawsuit or discrimination charge by a current or former employee? We have some suggestions that can help keep your legal bills reasonable and assist your […]
By Donna Gallant Employers are regularly called upon to modify the workplace or job duties in order to accommodate disabilities. But personal assistive bodily devices haven’t traditionally been part of the accommodation discussion in Canada. This may now be changing, according to a recent arbitration decision. Teacher requires hearing aids A teacher struggled with a […]
The broad scope of the Fair Labor Standards Act provides seemingly endless opportunities for debate. The fact that the Supreme Court agreed to hear Christopher v. SmithKline Beecham Corp. later this year (a case out of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit involving worker classification) on the heels of its ruling in […]
Litigation Value: $100,000 – perhaps more if Todd Packer sleeps his way to a VP position. All sorts of sexual shenanigans occur throughout tonight’s episode, “Tallahassee.” Most of the action takes place in the aforementioned capital city of Florida, where Dwight, Jim, Stanley, Ryan, Erin, and Kathy are attending a meeting regarding Sabre’s plan to […]
by Michael E. Barnsback Jonathan Mook (one of our intrepid Virginia Employment Law Letter editors) and I recently taught a Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Master Class. As with all of our FMLA classes, the major concern among the participants was how to curb abuse and prevent claims. One of the recent cases we […]
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has clarified when and how screening out job applications without high school diplomas may violate the Americans With Disabilities Act. The commission made clear that such a requirement could violate the ADA in an informal guidance late last year, but clarification was necessary after “significant commentary and conjecture,” it said […]
By Francine Esposito Navigating the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) medical certification process can be tricky for even the most seasoned HR professionals. Thankfully, most employees requesting leave for their own serious health condition legitimately need it and will provide the necessary documentation. Other employees, however, attempt to “work the system” to take what […]
California is the most recent state to enter into a pact with the U.S. Labor Department aimed at cracking down the improper classification of employees as independent contractors. Nancy J. Leppink, deputy administrator of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, and California Labor Commissioner Julie A. Su announced their recently signed memorandum […]
by Rosalind H. Cooper It is commonplace for companies and supervisors across Canada to be charged and convicted with respect to health and safety offenses. But the same doesn’t necessarily hold true for health and safety managers. In R. v. Della Valle, the Provincial Court of Nova Scotia recently convicted and fined a health and […]
Litigation Value: Nothing too outrageous last night, but are we seeing the beginnings of a couple of sexual harassment claims for Jim and Val? Another week has gone by, and our favorite paper and printer sales team has heroically managed to continue to avoid discussing the bizarre behavior of their CEO at his party a […]