Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
There are dozens of details to take care of in the day-to-day operation of your department and your company. We give you case studies, news updates, best practices and training tips that keep your organization fully in compliance with ever-changing employment law, and you fully aware of emerging HR trends.
You may think an employee who hands in their resignation can’t hold you legally responsible for their decision to quit. But a worker who claims their working conditions were intolerable can try to turn a resignation into a lawsuit for “constructive discharge.” As a new ruling involving sexual orientation bias demonstrates, you can avoid being […]
To defend yourself against a lawsuit by an employee terminated for sexual harassment or other misconduct, it’s essential to thoroughly investigate the accuser’s complaint, as the accompanying story illustrates. Here are the key steps Lucky Stores took which led the court to find it had acted properly before discharging the employee accused of harassment:
As employers are finding out all too often, getting tough and firing employees who harass other workers can bring on another big headache-a wrongful termination lawsuit. Although the California Supreme Court addressed this troublesome issue earlier this year, it’s been unclear exactly what steps you should take to protect yourself from being sued by an […]
If you require employees to attend training or other meetings off-site, do you have to pay them for the extra time it takes them to get there? The answer is not always, at least if you’re a public employer. We’ll focus on a new case addressing this issue and then look at common travel time […]
Suppose you decide to terminate an employee as part of a reduction in force. You treat the worker the same as others selected for layoff and offer the same severance benefits. But the person turns around and sues, claiming the real reason you fired him was to retaliate for a discrimination claim he filed with […]
What are employers doing to help employees balance work and family needs? A survey by the Families and Work Institute of 1,000 employers with 100+ employees reveals that 90% of the employers gave workers time off to attend school events, and half let employees stay home with a mildly sick child without using vacation or […]
An employee who claimed her boss sexually harassed her was awarded nearly $400,000 in damages—but the supervisor, not the employer, will have to pay the tab. Maria Kaul worked for a short time as a secretary for Orion Systems, Inc., in Santa Clara. She claimed her boss, Morton Kessler, repeatedly commented on her clothing, kissed […]
A bill recently signed by Governor Pete Wilson will prohibit discrimination against otherwise healthy employees with genetic characteristics that predispose them to a hereditary disease. Proponents of the measure, which goes into effect January 1, 1999, say it’s needed because some employers have begun screening job applicants for genetic problems. A recent court decision found […]
In a pair of important new decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court has for the first time clarified the rules about when you can be liable for harassment that you didn’t know about or that didn’t cause the victim a loss of job benefits. The rulings offer something for everyone. They make it easier for employees […]
These days, it seems any time you terminate a worker 40 or over, you risk being hit with an age bias lawsuit. And, if you haven’t handled the termination by the book, you could get hammered with a big judgment. A recent steep arbitration award to an older employee who claimed he was illegally pressured […]