The Employer Handbook Blog

On June 29, The Employer Handbook reported here that Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter vetoed the "Promoting Healthy Families and Workplaces" bill. This bill would have required businesses to provide paid sick leave to employees who work a minimum number of hours in Philadelphia County.

Ah, but the times, they are a-becoming quite different. Right Connecticut and Seattle?

BNA reports here (subscription required) that Mayor Nutter is expected to sign this narrower paid-sick-leave legislation into law. If passed, it would require certain city contractors to provide workers with one hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked, up to to certain maximums based on number of employees. The new law, if passed, will take effect on July 1, 2012.

For more information about whether your business may qualify, subject to the standard disclaimer, drop me a line.

Photo Credit: Politics.Gather.com

Last week, Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) reintroduced the Domestic Violence Leave Act, which expands paid leave options for victims of domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking. Details on the pending legislation and what it would mean for employers if it passes after the jump...

Continue reading "Employer Alert: FMLA for domestic violence victims" »

I get 15 16 minutes of fame.

Earlier this week, one of my readers forwarded an email to me reminding me about the young woman above who, last year, in a series of 34 pictures, told her employer to take her job and shove it. 

Nice! Although I'm not sure that it is better than this absolutely epic letter from the Cleveland Browns to one of their disgruntled fans.

The whiteboard resignation turned out to be a hoax. But, talk about a way to quit your job! Has anything [remotely] like this happened in your office? Tell me about it in the comments below.

Have a nice weekend.

Worst. Pun. Ever.

In some states, employees who become victims of domestic violence, or whose family members are victims of domestic violence, are entitled to take a short unpaid leave from work. In one state, companies need to be aware of possible legislation that would require them to afford time off to employees whose pets are victims of violence or threats of violence.

Find out which state -- you have a 1 in 50 chance -- after the jump...

Continue reading "Doggone-it. Must employers give leave to employees with hurt pets?" »

I hope you enjoyed yesterday's Simpsons post. I had a blast writing it but, damn, it sapped the life out of me. So, after the jump, I'm sending you out into the blogosphere for your daily dose of employment law and HR news...

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Continue reading "What's new on the interwebs in HR and employment law?" »

In yesterday's post, we looked at whether a morbidly-obese employee is protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act. 

Today, let's apply yesterday's discussion to a "real-world" example. Is Homer Simpson disabled? And is the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant legally obligated to offer him a reasonable accommodation? The answers after the jump...

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Continue reading "Can Homer Simpson sue Mr. Burns for disability bias, and win?" »

Recently, the EEOC sued a Texas company, alleging that the company engaged in disability discrimination, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, when it fired a 680-pound worker because he was morbidly obese.

Is that right? Can being overweight be considered a "disability" under federal law? And, if so, what can companies do to find themselves staring down the barrel of loaded ADA lawsuit? I'll answer these questions after the jump.

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Continue reading "Is morbid obesity a disability under federal employment law?" »

Retaliation claims have become the leading cause of action for employees. In fiscal year 2010, retaliation charges filed with the EEOC nationwide accounted for 36.3% of all filings, at 36,258. There are three essential elements of a retaliation claim:

1. Employee Protected Activity - opposition to discrimination or participation in the statutory complaint process;
2. Employer Adverse Action - any adverse treatment (beyond a petty slight or a trivial annoyance) that is based on a retaliatory motive and is reasonably likely to deter protected activity; and
3. Causal Connection - between the protected activity and the adverse action.

What makes retaliation claims so common? Well, it's not so much because they are are easy for employees to prove. In my opinion, it's because retaliation claims are tough for employers to disprove prior to trial.

Case in point after the jump...

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Continue reading "A little ambiguity creates a BIG retaliation headache for employers" »

Maybe it's that good feeling I still have after eating some hella-good spicy fried chicken at Bolton's Spicy Chicken & Fish in Nashville, TN last night.

Oh no, wait, that's heartburn.

In any event, I'm feeling generous. I feel like giving back some of the love. Later today, I will be speaking at the Advanced Employment Issues Symposium in Nashville, TN, where I will be presenting Using Social Media To Make Hiring and Firing Decisions: What's Legal? What's Not?. If you have social-media hiring-related questions that you would for like for me to answer, fire away! You just need to do two things for me.

1. Read this disclaimer. (Focus very carefully on Numbers 3 and 4).
2. Post your questions in the comments below or tweet them to @Eric_B_Meyer with the hashtag #AEIS11.

I will do my best to address them today and then post answers below or via Twitter.

The National Labor Relations Board announced yesterday afternoon that it has pushed back its deadline for covered employers to post this notice, advising employees how to form a union, among other things. 

More details, including the new deadline, after the jump...

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Continue reading "NLRB puts the temporary kibosh on its mandatory union-rights poster" »

Your business drug tests job applicants as a condition of employment. What would happen if a male applicant refused to take a urine test because he claimed that he had paruresis, otherwise known as "shy bladder syndrome" or "bashful bladder syndrome"? Would you have to accommodate the applicant with a different type of drug test? Or could you just refuse to hire the applicant?

The EEOC recently addressed this topic and I have the answer -- along with some self-deprecation -- after the jump...

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Continue reading "Employee drug testing and bashful bladders; it's a wicked pissah!" »

The other day, I came across this great article on ESPN.com, which outlines all of the social-media policies currently in effect for several sports leagues worldwide. What struck me most is that several organizations, including the NCAA, have no social-media policies for their athletes. And at the other end of the spectrum, the Ultimate Fighting Championship actually rewards its athletes based on number of Twitter followers.

This further supports a point that I like to hammer (e.g., here and here): ultimately, for any business, a social-media policy is never a "one-size-fits-all." Instead, the social-media policy -- and all companies should have one -- must be tailor-fit to the objectives and goals of the company.

For additional insight into drafting social media policies, I suggest Think Before You Click: Strategies for Managing Social Media in the Workplace.

Image Credit: Logan Morrison (a/k/a @LoMoMarlins) on Twitpic.com

Last week, a National Labor Relations Board Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ruled, for the first time, that an employer could legally fire an employee based on Facebook activity. In Karl Knauz Motors, Inc. d/b/a Knauz BMW and Robert Becker, the ALJ okayed a BMW dealership firing an employee who posted pictures (accompanied by some snarky comments) about a neighboring Land Rover dealership.

So what's up with the title of this blog post? And why should employers be concerned with this decision? Find out after the jump...

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Continue reading "Pyrrhic Victory: Judge ok's firing for Facebook post, but..." »

Mach·i·a·vel·li·an   [mak-ee-uh-vel-ee-uhn] adjective

1. of, like, or befitting Machiavelli.


2. characterized by subtle or unscrupulous cunning. He resorted to Machiavellian tactics in order to get ahead.


3. The quality associated with marketing a line of greeting cards to capitalize on the 9.1% unemployment rate in the United States. Hallmark's decision to sell unemployment sympathy cards is hella-Machiavellian.

Today is Rosh Hashanah (ראש השנה), the Jewish New Year. I'm Jewish. So, I'm not taking a deposition today. And if you are involved in a case with Jewish parties or attorneys, you shouldn't be either.

However, according to this article, these plaintiff's attorneys didn't get the memo. So, defense counsel filed this motion. And the Court entered this Order, rescheduling the deposition and sanctioning the plaintiff's attorneys "in an amount to be determined."

Oy vey and L'shanah tovah.

h/t Above the Law and South Florida Lawyers