Employers need to know what distinguishes a professional courtesy — let’s say having an occasional job-related phone discussion with an employee on leave — from crossing the line and interfering with an employee’s rights under the Family and Medical Leave…
While HR professionals may sometimes struggle with the murky areas of employment law, in a leave of absence situation, there should be no mistaking some of the more immediate obligations under the Family and Medical Leave Act. Within five business…
Courts generally agree that an employee suffering from alcoholism has “a physical or mental impairment” — and, hence, a disability protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act. While an employer can deny employment to, discipline or discharge an alcoholic whose use…
True or False: An employer is free to fire a pregnant employee once she has exhausted all her leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act. The most accurate answer: It depends. The FMLA requires covered employers to provide up…
This year’s worse than average flu season has some employers wondering what they can do to help keep workers healthy. Just one flu-infected worker, after all, can infect the entire workplace and bring productivity to a grinding halt. Employers have,…
An employee walks visibly shaken into your human resources office. She is upset about a work reassignment and says she does not feel properly trained for the new position. She has an emotional meltdown in front of you: crying and…
When a court determines that an employer has interfered with an employee’s right to leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act, the monetary damages can be quite severe. While awards of front pay, back pay and attorney fees are…
An employer will pay almost $5 million to settle claims it automatically fired employees who used 12 weeks of medical leave and were not ready to return to work, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced Nov. 9. The settlement…
When you must defend your decision to fire an individual based solely on his poor performance, no one likes the idea of having to scale a circumstantial Mount Everest in a court of law. But a cohesive paper trail of…
A Midwestern farm company that fired a manager on the day he was due to return from FMLA leave has withstood the ex-employee’s allegations of FMLA retaliation and interference in a 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling affirming a…