When is Drug Screening Allowed?
Can you ask job applicants and employees to submit to drug testing?
Tag: disability
Why Provide Disability Insurance for Employees?
Why Provide Disability Insurance for Employees? Of all the benefits employers routinely provide for employees, disability insurance remains one of the least-discussed options. This is startling, considering the fact that there are millions of Americans who are currently disabled and unable to earn income from employment.
When Is an Employee Protected from Retaliation?
When Is an Employee Protected from Retaliation? Retaliation should never be a motivating factor for employers. While this statement may seem obvious, it’s all too easy for emotions and frustrations to cloud employers’ (and individual supervisors’ and managers’) judgment when something goes awry at the workplace. Unfortunately, it’s also easy to inadvertently appear to act […]
Supreme Court Revives Pregnancy Accommodation Suit
The U.S. Supreme Court on March 25 vacated and remanded an appeals court ruling that the Pregnancy Discrimination Act does not require employers to accommodate pregnant employees. In Young v. UPS, the 4th Circuit held that UPS did not violate the PDA by limiting light-duty accommodations to employees: (1) injured on the job; (2) disabled as […]
A ‘Vampire’ in the Workplace Stokes Discrimination Lawsuit
This sounds so high school! An employee recently filed suit in an Illinois federal court because his coworkers teased and ridiculed him because he had an accent, saying he looked and sounded like a vampire. What makes this story strange is that the employee is a securities broker and so are his coworkers.
‘Choose Child or Job’: Manager’s Comment Sends ADA Suit to Trial
A manager’s comment has allowed an employee to keep her disability discrimination claim alive, according to a recent court ruling. In Manon v. 878 Education, LLC (No. 12-cv-3476 (March 4, 2015)), a worker alleged that she was fired because her daughter has a disability; her claims survived summary judgment because she was able to show that her […]
Jury Awards $2.6M to Pharmacist With Needle Phobia
Rite Aid Corp. will soon appeal a $2.6 million jury award for a pharmacist who is afraid of needles, according to recent court filings. A federal jury determined in January that the pharmacist’s phobia was a disability covered by the Americans with Disabilities and that he was fired because of that fear. Christopher Stevens, who […]
The Employee Handbook—Best Practices
Most organizations have created some form of employee handbook, and for good reason. Not only does this document serve as a means to inform employees of their rights and responsibilities but it also acts as a reference guide for all employer policies. Most handbooks include:
Alcoholism, alcohol abuse, and the workplace―navigating legal risks
By Holly K. Jones Q We administer a voluntary leave program through which workers can donate paid leave to their colleagues to obtain necessary medical treatment. Recently an employee asked to use the program to seek substance abuse treatment for alcoholism. This isn’t the type of treatment we had in mind when we established the […]
Maternity and Paternity Leave in the United States
Perhaps you’ve heard the statistics in the news lately: the United States lags behind most other nations in terms of how much guaranteed maternity and paternity leave is provided to employees. In fact, it shocks some people in other countries to learn that there is no mandated maternity and paternity leave at all!