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The Employer Handbook Blog

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The readers have three follow-up ADA questions about job applications. Let’s answer them.

Request Leave Coolie Writing Tool Pen Application (https://www.maxpixel.net/Request-Leave-Coolie-Writing-Tool-Pen-Application-1915347) On Wednesday, I blogged, “If your job applications look anything like this, well, damn, you’ve got some ADA problems.” “This” was a medical questionnaire that inquired about certain medical conditions, whether the employee had an impairment or disability, and whether the employee…

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Yes, you can be fired for cursing about clients in the office bathroom

MarkBuckawicki [CC0], via Wikimedia CommonsIf I were the boss, I’d fire anyone for talking in a public office restroom. Period. Full stop. But, carrying on and cursing about clients of the company is certainly a terminable offense. Just ask the National Labor Relations Board. Here’s the setup: Two employees entered…

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If your job applications look anything like this, well, damn, you’ve got some ADA problems.

Request Leave Coolie Writing Tool Pen Application (https://www.maxpixel.net/Request-Leave-Coolie-Writing-Tool-Pen-Application-1915347) I remember once I had a colleague asked me to review an addendum to a job application for a client to make sure it was all good and legal. It wasn’t. There were four questions on the addendum: Do you have a…

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Does an employee have an ADA ‘disability’ if it substantially limits the major life activity of ‘working’?

Image Credit: Pexels.com (https://www.pexels.com/photo/working-in-a-group-6224/) Ever since the amendments to the Americans with Disability Act took effect in 2009, management-side employment lawyers have preached to clients that they should focus more on accommodating a disability rather than whether an employee has a disability in the first place. But, what if you…

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285,000 reasons that your company president shouldn’t ridicule an employee with a disability. Especially not in email.

Lorimar Productions/NBC [Public domain], via Wikimedia CommonsIn 1976, Sally Field played Sybil in the eponymous TV movie. Sybil was a teacher who suffered a breakdown in front of her students, only to be diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder. Throughout the movie, Sybil exhibits multiple personalities — 16 in all. Some…

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NYC is going to ban pre-employment marijuana drug screening. How do you feel about that?

User:Jennifer Martin [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia CommonsEarlier this week, the New York City Council approved this bill, which will make it unlawful for most NYC employers to require any job candidate to submit to testing for the presence of any tetrahydrocannabinols or marijuana in such prospective employee’s system as…

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The EEOC just announced its 2018 performance numbers. Here are three things employers need to know.

Aotearoa at Polish Wikipedia [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia CommonsSpoiler Alert: the Federated States Of Micronesia had zero charges of discrimination Yesterday, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released its Fiscal Year 2018 enforcement and litigation data. Here’s what you need to know. Retaliation remains the top claim. Here are…

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Imagine being forced to re-employ the person who claims that your company discriminated against her.

Public Domain, Link Many people forget that federal anti-discrimination law, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, contemplates reinstatement of an employee as a remedy for discrimination. But, before I get to that, I want to thank everyone who responded to yesterday’s blog post. If I did a…

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What do you think about ‘Thank You’ notes and, maybe, adding a live weekly video chat to this blog?

Image Credit: Pixabay.com (https://pixabay.com/photos/thank-you-thanks-card-message-note-515514/) I have two items I want to hit you with today, on both of which I’d love your feedback. The Employer Handbook Live Stream? I’ve been toying with the idea of adding a live video chat to the blog. It would go something like this: I…

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Looks can be deceiving. Morbid obesity isn’t necessarily a disability.

Image Credit: Photofunia.com (http://photofunia.com/results/5ca8a63b846d788d968b457e) (What a strange thing to write on a window.)  Even in New Jersey, where employment law is ‘Mister Rogers’ friendly to employees. It was not a beautiful day in the neighborhood. In Mister Rogers’s Land of Make Believe there was an electric trolley that no one…