Category: Uncategorized
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A new California Supreme Court ruling highlights a state law that prohibits the secret tape-recording of phone conversations. Although the case didn’t involve an employer-employee dispute, it has important workplace implications. We”ll explain the decision and provide guidelines on when you can legally monitor employee phone calls. Wife Allegedly Plots To Kill Sick Husband The […]
Felix C. Villafuerte complained to the Labor Commissioner that Pasadena-based Inter-Con Security Systems Inc. never paid him his final wages when he quit. Inter-Con claimed it had mailed a final paycheck to Villafuerte but that an unknown person had illegally intercepted and cashed it by forging Villafuerte’s signature. A California Court of Appeal now […]
Sample Internet Policy Here’s a sample Internet policy you can modify and/or expand to meet your organization’s specific needs. Have your employees sign the policy, acknowledging they understand it and agree to be bound by its terms. [Company] Internet Policy Business use only. [Company] provides Internet access (including e-mail) to its employees to assist and […]
A Labor Department rule provides that when an employer fails to notify an employee that leave qualifies under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, the time off does not count toward the 12 weeks per year the employee is entitled to under the FMLA. Federal courts have split over whether this regulation is valid—and […]
Because employee Internet access in the workplace can raise the potential for abuse and misuse, some employers monitor their employees’ Internet activities. But this in turn raises concerns about employees’ right to privacy. An important new California Court of Appeal decision addresses this issue head-on, ruling that an employee who consented to employer monitoring had […]
Under federal Department of Transportation rules, professional drivers who operate vehicles weighing more than 10,000 pounds must be DOT certified. United Parcel Service had a policy of only hiring individuals for driving positions who had this certification. Based on this rule, UPS turned down an employee who couldn’t meet DOT standards because she was deaf. […]
House Republicans have defeated a measure that would have forced insurers to cover mental health conditions to the same extent that they cover other medical problems. The provision, which the Senate had tacked on to a federal spending bill, would not have required employers to provide mental health coverage as part of employee benefits, but […]
Norman Hutton, a diabetic who worked for Portland, Ore. based chlorine manufacturer Elf Atochem North America Inc., sued for disability discrimination after he was terminated following a series of on-the-job hypoglycemic episodes. Elf claimed it didn’t have to keep Hutton in his job because his condition created a direct safety threat to the workplace—and now […]
Deborah Wells was employed by Clackamas Gastroenterology Associates, a medical clinic and professional corporation with four physician shareholders and directors and another 12 to 15 employees. When Wells was terminated, she sued Clackamas under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The clinic responded that it didn’t have enough employees to be covered by the ADA. 400+ […]
We recently polled our CEA subscribers to determine how employers are managing employee cell phone use issues. Employers who responded had staff sizes ranging from five to more than 5,000. Cell Phone Use While Driving More than 96% of employers who responded said that some or all of their employees use cell phones to conduct […]
