Category: HR Management & Compliance

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.

FLSA Violations Are Out of Fashion, Says DOL in Targeting Apparel Industry

A sweeping new U.S. Department of Labor enforcement initiative targeting California’s apparel industry may highlight wage and hour compliance issues for retailers and manufacturers. The companies that make, ship, market and sell clothing have long faced scrutiny over labor practices but industry proponents argue that they have made great strides. DOL appears to disagree, launching […]

Need More Effective Training to Prevent Sexual Harassment?

In today’s Advisor, we’ll propose several scenarios that will help with your anti-harassment training. Jack and Jill Jack, a manager, asks Jill, one of his supervisors, out on a date. She says “No,” he never asks her again, and their business relationship continues as it was. Any problem? [Not immediately, but what if Jill suffers […]

When ‘Casual Conversations’ Become FMLA Notice

As an employer, you might think that there’s a clear difference between taking part in casual conversations with your employees versus receiving notice of an impending FMLA leave. After all, dropping hints in the lunchroom about ailing parents, sick kids or personal health issues doesn’t qualify these days as giving official leave notification, does it? […]

How Good Employee Documentation Helps You Achieve Your Objectives

Employee documentation can be HR’s secret weapon. It can be used as part of a defense strategy should you ever be faced with a discrimination or retaliation lawsuit, for example. Any labor and employment attorney will tell you that one of the keys to being able to defend—or even prevent—litigation rests in sound HR documentation […]

Another Case for Training Managers and Winning Lawsuits

Woods is a shareholder in the Greenville, South Carolina office of law firm Ogletree Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, PC. His remarks came at BLR®’s annual National Employment Law Update. Employer’s Failure Allows FMLA Claim To Go Forward The Story: A newspaper receptionist, who was allegedly fired for violation of her employer’s attendance policy, had […]

What Does It Mean To Be ‘Totally Incapacitated’?

Yesterday, we looked at a case involving an employee who claimed to want to return to work but submitted a note from his doctor stating that he was “totally incapacitated.” Today, the conclusion of the case, courtesy of attorney Nancy N. Lubrano of the Irvine office of Carothers DiSante & Freudenberger LLP.

Teacher’s Retaliation Claim Advances to Jury Trial

A recent decision by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals highlights the importance of tracking employees’ hours. That court reversed a district court’s judgment against a New York high school English teacher who claims he was denied tenure in retaliation for taking seven days of leave following gallbladder surgery — FMLA leave for which […]

Have You Trained Your Managers in What Not to Say?

Woods is a shareholder in the Greenville, South Carolina office of law firm Ogletree Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, PC. His remarks came at BLR®’s annual National Employment Law Update. Seeking a Person ‘More Energetic’ than You The Story: Klockner Pentaplast of America (KPA) employed 58-year-old Dean Inman as its VP Technology. When Michael Tubridy, […]