Exempt vs. Non-Exempt: California Rules on Employee Suspensions
We recently received the following question from a subscriber: Can we suspend an exempt employee without pay for violating a written policy?
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To Prevent Lawsuits—Think the Way a Jury Thinks
Fairness—not legality—is the most basic issue in avoiding lawsuits. Why? Because fairness is what matters to juries. As you act, ask yourself, what would a jury think? Many of the most costly cases in employment law are decided by juries. Although judges carefully instruct jury members in the finer points of law involved in their […]
Work for a Client Can Still Meet FLSA’s Administrative Exemption, 3rd Circuit Rules
Does an employee “assist in the running or servicing of the business” if he designs systems for a client rather than for the business itself? According to a recent ruling from the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the answer is “yes,” thereby helping the employee satisfy one of the key requirements for the administrative […]
Hot List: Wall Street Journal’s Bestselling Hardcover Business Books
The following is a list of the bestselling hardcover business books as ranked by the Wall Street Journal with data from Nielsen BookScan. 1. StrengthsFinder 2.0: A New and Upgraded Edition of the Online Test from Gallup’s Now, Discover Your Strengths by Tom Rath. Are you unsure where your true talents lie? Do you feel […]
Dealing with “Termination-Resistant” Employees
“I want to fire him, but I can’t.” It’s true that some employees are “fire-retardant”— they are in a protected class or have performed a protected act — but this doesn’t mean you can’t fire them.
FMLA Obligations for Pregnant and Nursing Mothers
In yesterday’s Advisor, we covered discrimination laws and pregnancy; today, FMLA and pregnancy, plus an introduction to an extraordinary collection of pre-written job descriptions, available on CD and ready for you to implement. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act (ADA) applies regardless of how long an employee has worked for you. The federal Family and Medical Leave […]
Boeing’s Right to Relocate Some Operations to South Carolina before NLRB
Tuesday, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) will begin its unfair labor practice case against Boeing, insisting that the company may not move some of its operations from Washington to South Carolina because the move might somehow violate workers’ rights. The outcome of this case goes well beyond South Carolina, but it is vitally important […]
Why You Need To Get Your Story Straight – Always
What’s one of the hardest wrongful termination lawsuits to defend? The one where the “story” of the termination is inconsistent between HR, the manager, and the documentation.
Canadian Decisions Blur Distinction between Employees and Independent Contractors
By Ralph Nero and Keri Bennett Employers in Canada have typically understood employees and independent contractors to fall into distinct legal categories. However, recent court and labor board decisions indicate that the traditional definition of “employee” continues to expand. Ontario court interprets health and safety obligations In Ontario (Labour) v. United Independent Operators Limited, Ontario’s […]
What to Expect When Your Employee Is Expecting
Pregnancy—a special event, for sure, but a challenging one for the employee’s manager and for HR. Managers need to get it right from the start, and, by the way, guess what, you’re not getting the jury’s sympathy. In 1978, Congress passed the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA), amending Title VII to prohibit employers from discriminating against […]