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What were they thinking? Fired for a 40-year-old shoplifting arrest
We’re starting to see why the EEOC released guidelines on the use of criminal background checks: A 58-year-old customer service worker was recently fired when a background check revealed she’d shoplifted 40 years ago. Yolanda Quesada got the axe after she received an FBI notice of her background check, according to the Milwaukee Sentinel. Her [...]
Staffer not cooperating with certification requests? Here’s what to do
Employees don’t always make it easy for firms to approve their FMLA leave. When that happens, do what this company did. Terry Poling was approved for intermittent FMLA leave for Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome, a neurological condition that can cause severe burning pain, excessive sweating and tissue swelling. In the months following, Poling never needed [...]
Smartphones for non-exempt staffers: Overtime disaster?
Of course, you want workers to be as productive as possible. But handing out smartphones to non-exempt employees may be much more of a headache — and a cash drain — than it’s worth. Here’s why: Employees checking smartphones after hours represent a hidden overtime liability, and there are many gray areas between what’s compensable [...]
11 essentials for your FMLA policy
Intermittent leave has rapidly become the No. 1 headache for HR/Benefits pros everywhere. But adding these measures to your FMLA policy will certainly ease the pain. You can’t forbid people from taking a few hours off here and there for legitimate FMLA reasons, but you can legally discourage abuse. An effective policy would include at [...]
Transgender employees protected against bias, EEOC says
Transgender individuals can sue for gender discrimination, according to a recent EEOC ruling. The ruling clarifies the feds’ position on the status of transgender employees. In an email quoted in a Los Angeles Times blog, EEOC spokeswoman Christine Nazer wrote that the ruling is now “the EEOC’s position, and we will apply it in all [...]
Can he sue for anti-Semitic bias if he’s not Jewish?
An employee files a discrimination suit because of co-workers’ alleged anti-Semitic remarks. The thing is, he’s not Jewish. Did he win? Read the dramatized version of this real-life case and see if you can determine the outcome. The scene “Steve Birch is suing us over anti-Semitic remarks?” asked manager Carla Stevens. “He’s not even Jewish.” [...]
Warning: New technology makes it easier to uncover workers’ comp violations
How easy is it to spot a company failing to fund workers’ comp benefits? It can’t be too hard if just eight inspectors in Georgia were able to uncover 538 businesses without comp insurance in just three months. What’s changed? Answer: Technology. Computers are making it easier for state inspectors to nab businesses without workers’ [...]
6 top reasons wage-and-hour lawsuits are climbing rapidly
The federal government’s added emphasis on enforcing wage-and-hour laws mixed with workers’ contempt for being asked to work longer hours without increased pay during the recession has turned into a dangerous cocktail for employers. Some scary stats for you to digest: The number of wage-and-hour lawsuits that reached federal court increased 15% between 2011 and [...]
Heads up: The IRS could be poking around your COBRA procedures
Got all your COBRA procedures in line? Because it looks like the IRS could be stepping up its audit program. The IRS recently released revised audit guidelines for its COBRA investigators. The new rules cover reg changes in such laws as HIPAA and FMLA. Russell Chapman, Lisa Taggart and Andrea Jackson, writing on employeebenefitscounsel.com, outline [...]
FMLA: 13 ways to stop intermittent-leave abuse
Intermittent FMLA leave has rapidly become the No. 1 nightmare for supervisors everywhere. A top employment lawyer offers a multi-step approach that’ll help companies legally discourage abuse. It starts with adopting a formal policy on intermittent leave, making a company-wide decision that you’ll track all such leaves and communicating the policy throughout the company to [...]
