Issue: Can you tell an employee to take a bath? Risk: You risk a discrimination claim because, unlike other grooming-policy issues, odor lies in the eye (or nose) of the...
Thorough background checks can help you defeat any negligent hiring claim. But what if applicants' background checks come up clean, yet they begin displaying...
The Supreme Court last month handed employers more power to set and enforce policies that deny rehiring to employees fired for misconduct. The court said such...
Issue: Court raises threshold for employees to qualify for FMLA leave. Benefit: Workers can take FMLA leave if they have a serious condition causing three consecutive...
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) says you must make accommodations to let disabled employees perform the essential functions of their jobs. But regular, on-time...
Issue: A new court ruling makes it more difficult to stop former employees from blitzing your workplace with e-mail messages, including those that criticize ...
You can obtain the best possible results from employment actions simply by performing them on the optimal day of the week, according to outplacement consulting firm...
If your company has fewer than 50 workers, yet is somehow linked to another employer or location, you may incorrectly believe that you don't need to comply with ...
Issue: Even if it employs fewer than 50 people, your organization could be subject to FMLA compliance. Risk: Being affiliated with another organization could mean that,...
Issue: Unless your policy prevents it, employees can work a second job while out on medical-related FMLA leave. Risk: Reduced productivity as employees "work" the...
Courts typically don't consider pregnancy alone to be a "serious medical condition" qualifying for job-protected leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)....
Don't allow employees to use their disabilities as justification for poor behavior, especially if it clearly threatens your workplace. Even if an employee is ...
If you screw up on a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) pay issue, don't count on the "window of corrections" to save you. Sure, this Labor Department rule allows you to ...
Truck driver Joseph Scamihorn Jr. saw his 73-year-old father fall into a deep depression soon after his daughter, Joseph's sister, was murdered. After notifying his...
It's a deceptively simple concept: You have to pay nonexempt employees for every hour they work. But employers often trip over interpretation of that law when it comes...
New York Life forbade employees to use their corporate American Express cards for personal items. But Phyllis Meloff says she got permission to use the card for her...
Frank's boss asked him to quit wearing his earring to work. Frank refused, arguing that women in the office were allowed to wear earrings. He was fired and then sued for...
Employers are required to adjust work schedules to accommodate their employees' religious observances, even for nontraditional beliefs. In a recent case, an employee ...