The legalities of employee mass walkouts vs. the practicalities of avoiding them in the first place
Three central Ohio Sonic restaurants are without employees after their entire staffs walked off the job in protest against new management an...
Archive: February 2019
A 💩 disability discrimination case
By Jon Hyman
A call center employee, suffering from Crohn's Disease, asks his manager for some flexibility in the company's break schedules or ot...
What a morning at the BMV teaches about cybersecurity
By Jon Hyman
I spent way too much of my Saturday morning at the local Bureau of Motor Vehicles (aka the Walmart of government agencies). "Why,"...
You're never too small to have an HR department
By Jon Hyman
43 percent of American employees work for companies with 50 or fewer employees. I raise this statistic because it is almost a guarantee that...
WIRTW #543 (the “terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day at the office” edition)
By Jon Hyman
What was your worst day at work? Does it top the day that Cleveland criminal defense attorney Aaron Brockler had this past Tuesday? I'...
If you want to stop workplace harassment, start by educating our children
By Jon Hyman
How soon is too soon to start talking about harassment? If we're talking about your workplace, the correct answer is that it's nev...
The 6th nominee for the “worst employer of 2019” is … the diverse discriminator
By Jon Hyman
How many different ways can one employer discriminate? How about eight. The EEOC recently settled a national origin and disability disc...
The FMLA does not require that an employee use magic words to request leave
By Jon Hyman
According to the FMLA's regulations , "When an employee seeks leave for the first time for a FMLA-qualifying reason, the employee...
Do you know how to spot an employee at risk for violence?
By Jon Hyman
Early Friday afternoon, Henry Pratt Co. informed one of its employees, Gary Martin, of his termination. Shortly thereafter, he opened fire w...
WIRTW #542 (the “Scared. Ashamed. Crippled.” edition)
By Jon Hyman
A few days ago, Mark Goldstein , an attorney at Reed Smith, tweeted me (and others) this: If you read on thing this week, read Ma...
When the rumor mill creates a sexually hostile work environment
By Jon Hyman
Just in time for Valentine's Day, I bring you the story of a employee rumored to be sleeping with her boss to get a promotion. She wasn...
The way we work might be changing, but independent contractors risks are staying exactly the same
By Jon Hyman
The way we work in America is changing. The relationships between companies and their workers are more fluid and varied than in decades pa...
A textbook lesson the ADA's interactive process
By Jon Hyman
Does an employer have an obligation to return an employee to work following an extended unpaid leave of absence granted as a reasonable acco...
Emojis are starting to pop up in discrmination and harassment cases 🤔🤷♂️
By Jon Hyman
Law.com recently pronounced, "The Emojis are Coming!" That article got me thinking, are they coming to workplace litigation, too?...
WIRTW #541 (the “Purl” edition)
By Jon Hyman
Purl is an online-only Pixar short about a ball of yarn appropriately named Purl who gets a job in a bro-tastic workplace. As the only fema...
FINRA's new "Best Practices" for Cybersecurity is MUST reading for any employer
By Jon Hyman
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) recently issued its Report on Selected Cybersecurity Practices – 2018 [pdf] . The Rep...
President Trump calls for federal paid family leave during State of the Union
By Jon Hyman
Yesterday was the 26th anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act being signed into law. During last night's State of the Union Add...
How to recover a stolen computer from an ex-employee in seven easy steps
By Jon Hyman
As many as 60% of employees who are laid-off, fired, or quit admit to stealing company data. Sometimes, they download information on thei...
The 5th nominee for the “worst employer of 2019” is … the fishy fishery
By Jon Hyman
Atlantic Capes Fisheries agreed to pay $675,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by the EEOC alleging sexual harassment and retaliation. The al...
WIRTW #540 (the “wheels off” edition)
By Jon Hyman
The one question people ask me more than any other about this blog? "How do you write every day? " My answer, "Because I lo...