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The Employer Handbook Blog

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A new bipartisan bill would create more FMLA leave time for spouses that work for the same employer.

Jeff Belmonte from Cuiabá, Brazil [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia CommonsThe Family and Medical Leave Act provides eligible employees with up to 12 workweeks of job-protected leave during any 12-month period for specified family and medical reasons. But, if two spouses work for the same company, maybe, not so much.…

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New legislation in NJ would make it much harder to use independent contractors

Image by Sandra Ferentschik from Pixabay Yesterday, one of my favorite readers of the blog forwarded me a link to this article, “Sweeney-backed bill may eliminate independent contractors in N.J.” That got my attention. Last week, State Senator Stephen Sweeney introduced this piece of legislation which wouldn’t quite eliminate independent…

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Courts don’t second-guess non-discriminatory business decisions. Even the tough ones.

Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay There are times when employers have to make difficult decisions impacting the workplace. Today, I’m going to talk to you about one of them involving an employee who attempted suicide and, subsequently, pressed the company to return him to work. The plaintiff in this…

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How to fire a poor performer who complains about discrimination and still avoid a retaliation claim

Image by Christos Giakkas from Pixabay You have an underperforming supervisor in your workplace. Several employees have complained about her work performance and leadership. So, the plan is to fire her. Except, three weeks before you terminate this supervisor’s employment, she complains about discrimination. Can you go through with the…

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The DOL plans to make it easier for you to pay bonuses while using the fluctuating workweek

After a Harry Potter tour behind-the-scenes, some additional London sightseeing, and a Premier League game, the Meyers have made it back to the United States. Unfortunately, since my body is still on Greenwich Mean Time, I’m typing this post at 5:30 in the morning local time. But, hey, my four…

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Was the plaintiff too Jewish to get a job in Ohio? Or was it something else? (Spoiler alert: Something else)

Having avoided sepsis and other O’Hare carpet-related food contamination, the Meyer Family arrived in London yesterday, dominated some fish and chips (not pictured above) in Soho, and is gearing up for a full day of sightseeing and shenanigans today. So, with the kids in bed and me at the computer…

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A company called the plaintiff an ‘old timer’ and later fired him. But he LOST his age bias claim. Here’s why…

Image Credit: https://publicdomainvectors.org/en/free-clipart/Old-man-with-cane/46227.html There are plenty of buzzwords and phrases that, when uttered in the workplace, made provide good fodder for an age discrimination claim. For example, referring to someone as an ‘old timer’ can be direct evidence of age discrimination. Then, if an email were to surface in which…

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You know that employee that won’t shut up about being underpaid? Yeah, well, you may be stuck with that person.

At first glance, this recent National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Advice Memorandum, with all its redactions and such, seems hardly worth the trouble to parse through. But, that’s why they pay me the big bucks bupkis to blog and try to make something out of nothing. And I’ve done…

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Holocaust denials — especially in email — generally don’t provide job security

Image by macdeedle from Pixabay Here, I’ll prove it. Several news outlets have reported that a Florida high school principal is no longer employed at the school after he allegedly told a parent, he ‘can’t say the Holocaust is a factual, historical event’ Here’s more from Nicole Darrah reporting here…