Can an employer require an employee with a serious health condition to take FMLA leave?

Yesterday, in response to my post about coronavirus and paid sick leave, a commenter on LinkedIn asked whether an employer can force a sick employee to take FMLA leave.

The answer is a qualified “yes.”

Is coronavirus the thing that will finally make paid sick a national reality?

As of this morning, there are 88 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States, with two deaths. According to the CDC, one of the best measures people can take to prevent the spread of the virus is to stay home from work when they are sick. Yet, as noted by CNN, “for workers who don’t have paid sick leave, staying home when they aren’t feeling well can be financially devastating.”

WIRTW #589 (the “Coronavirus” edition)

Does the Coronavirus freak you out? Do you think it’s the beginning of the end for the human race, way over-hyped by the media, or somewhere in between? I’m in the “somewhere in between camp,” but it doesn’t mean that your business shouldn’t be preparing for the inevitable when this virus starts clustering in the US.

Thus, I’ve gathered the best thoughts on how to prepare from some of the best bloggers around the internet.

PLEASE, I’m freaking begging you, DO NOT use social media to determine applicants’ race and gender

Almost as long as social media has existed, employers have searched social media to dig up dirt on prospective employees. There is nothing illegal about these searches … provided you don’t use the information unlawfully. For example, to discriminate on the basis of a protected class.

If Lisa McCarrick, a former Amazon manager, wins her lawsuit against the online retailer, Amazon is going to learn this lesson the hard way.

Meet the new boss, same as the old, old boss—NLRB issues long-awaited final rule on “joint employment”

Yesterday, the NLRB announced its long-awaited final rule governing joint-employer status under the National Labor Relations Act.

The rule clarifies that for an employer to qualify as a “joint employer” it must “possess and exercise such substantial direct and immediate control over one or more essential terms and conditions of employment of another employer’s employees.”

Just being in a protected class is never enough to protect an employee’s job

When Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance Corporation terminated Mary Lou Stelter from her sales position, she claimed disability discrimination relating to a workplace back injury and her related two-month leave of absence.

WPS, on the other hand, argued that Stelter’s manager, Wendy Harings, expressed concerns about Stelter’s performance deficiencies and absenteeism four years before the back injury; thus, any negative marks after her injury were merely a continuation of her long history of on-the-job issues and not evidence of discriminatory animus.

The 4th nominee for the “worst employer of 2020” is … the perverted Peking-duck purveyor

Every year I worry about how I’m going to fill my annual list of worst employers. I’ve yet to be disappointed.

The EEOC recently filed suit against a Medford, Oregon, Chinese restaurant after its middle-aged night-shift manager repeatedly sexually harassed young female employees.