How not to fire an employee
Today, I’m going to tell you a little story. It’s about a stay-at-home mom who works part-time from home. She’s worked for the same company ...
Do you know? Ohio law protects employers that give negative job references
By Jon Hyman
There are more people looking for work than at any time in the last 25 years. If you happen to be one of the companies hiring at the moment,...
A textbook example in handling a problem employee
By Jon Hyman
Every now and then, a case comes along that gives HR departments everywhere a good reminder that a few extra steps in dealing with a problem...
WIRTW #68
By Jon Hyman
The Department of Labor and the IRS have published the various information and forms necessary to carry out the new COBRA subsidy. The Penns...
EEOC to issue proposed GINA regulations
By Jon Hyman
By week’s end the EEOC will issue proposed regulations implementing the employment provisions of the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination...
6th Circuit decides that the closeness of a relationship does not matter in “associational discrimination” claims
By Jon Hyman
Last year, in Thompson v. North Am. Stainless the 6th Circuit recognized a claim under Title VII’s anti-retaliation provision for associati...
Maybe Microsoft is reading the blog
By Jon Hyman
Yesterday I reported on Microsoft’s gaffe in overpaying severance to laid-off employees. Caught in a potential public relations maelstrom, ...
Do you know? Continued health benefits under COBRA
By Jon Hyman
Last week, the federal government mandated a 65% employer-sponsored subsidy of employees’ health insurance premiums under COBRA for those e...
Microsoft gaffe illustrates importance of administration of severance programs
By Jon Hyman
For today’s worker, there is perhaps nothing more terrifying than being told that you are being laid off. The companies that can soften the ...
WIRTW #67
By Jon Hyman
Fellow blogger Teri Rasmussen, at her Ohio Practical Business Law blog, has compiled an exhaustive list of every Ohio-based legal blog. Tha...
Documentation is key to dismissal of discrimination cases
By Jon Hyman
While the laws under which employees can bring lawsuits are expanding, employees’ successes continue to retract, at least in federal court. ...
Five action points when your company is sued
By Jon Hyman
Over the course of the past years, I’ve written a lot about best practices to prevent employee lawsuits. The fact remains, though, that no m...
Do you know? Agreements cannot waive future claims
By Jon Hyman
Do you know? One of the mistakes that I see made over and over again in agreements I review is waivers of future claims. Take, for example, ...
Stimulus Bill to provide for subsidized COBRA coverage for laid-off employees
By Jon Hyman
COBRA provides workers and their families who lose health benefits the right to choose to continue group health benefits provided by their g...
WIRTW #66
By Jon Hyman
Overlawyered brings us the story of the week. File this one under what goes around comes around. A California attorney settled a consumer c...
Courts open Pandora’s Box in applying the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
By Jon Hyman
Today I am going to get technical and talk about statutory interpretation. Bear with me, though, because how some courts are incorrectly int...
A primer on employee polygraph testing
By Jon Hyman
As I’ve previously reported, as the recession deepens, incidents of employee theft are on the rise . It should go without saying that just a...
Do you know? Unpaid internships
By Jon Hyman
Do you know? There are specific standards that govern whether an unpaid internship passes muster under the Fair Labor Standards Act. If you ...
‘Tis better to have learned and lost
By Jon Hyman
Brown v. Nutrition Management Services Co. , from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, is a good reminder that ignorance of the law is neve...
WIRTW #65
By Jon Hyman
This week’s review starts with a couple of follow ups on early posts. Wage and Hour Counsel reports on an 11th Circuit decision discussing ...
Employee Free Choice Act officially kicks off, but does anyone care?
By Jon Hyman
Yesterday, the AFL-CIO delivered to Capitol Hill a petition of a claimed 1.5 million signature in support of the Employee Free Choice Act ....
3rd Circuit decision illustrates need for the Civil Rights Tax Relief Act
By Jon Hyman
Damages in discrimination cases come is several shapes – economic damages for lost wages (back pay and front pay), compensatory damages, emo...
Do you know? The FLSA’s Computer Employee Exemption
By Jon Hyman
Do you know? One of the FLSA’s lesser-known exemptions is the Computer Employee Exemption. For an employee to qualify for the computer emp...
Layoffs = lawsuits
By Jon Hyman
This headline from the New York Times says it all: “Layoffs Herald a Heyday for Employee Lawsuits.” More workers are being let go as c...
WIRTW #64
By Jon Hyman
It’s been a very busy week. We had the first employment law Supreme Court decision and the first new employment law of the new year. And, ...
Materials from KJK’s Breakfast Briefing are available
By Jon Hyman
Yesterday, blizzard and all, KJK held its inaugural Employment Law Breakfast Briefing. We covered the Top 10 Labor & Employment Issues f...
As promised, President Obama signs Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
By Jon Hyman
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/29/obama.fair.pay/index.html for the details.
6 tips to avoid an employment lawsuit
By Jon Hyman
For the past two days, BLR’s HR Daily Advisor has been looking behind enemy lines and providing tips from a plaintiffs lawyer on mistakes em...
A primer on inclement weather policies
By Jon Hyman
It seems appropriate as today’s snowstorm plays havoc on KJK’s inaugural Breakfast Briefing to spend some time talking about inclement weath...
Note the effective date of the Ledbetter bill
By Jon Hyman
From PointofLaw.com , on the effective date of the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act: SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act, and the amendments mad...
Do you know? The FLSA’s exemptions for salespeople
By Jon Hyman
Do you know? The FLSA has two different exemptions that could cover salespeople – the outside sales employee exemption and the commissioned...
Supreme Court rules that retaliation includes participating in internal investigations
By Jon Hyman
In a unanimous 9-0 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court held today that Title VII’s anti-retaliation provision covers employees who answer quest...
Reverse age discrimination should not be a concern in layoffs
By Jon Hyman
Last week, BusinessWeek ran the following headline: Employers Avoid Axing Oldies but Goodies . The crux of the story is that the current wa...
Ledbetter passes Senate – President’s signature is next
By Jon Hyman
It’s looking like the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act will be the first piece of legislation President Obama will sign into law. The Washington...
WIRTW #63
By Jon Hyman
If you check out only one other link this week, click over the Connecticut Employment Law Blog , where Dan Schwartz writes an Inauguration D...