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The Employer Handbook Blog

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In plain English: How will Philadelphia’s Fair Workweek law impact your local business?

Image Credit: @HelenGymAtLarge (Twitter) In a 14-3 vote last week, Philadelphia City Council approved sweeping changes to the ways local employers can schedule work, hire new employees, and pay their workers. It’s kind of a big deal. And with Mayor Kenney chomping at the bit to sign the legislation, here’s…

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Not every offhand comment, slight, and insult is a federal lawsuit.

Image Credit: Publicdomanpictures.net (https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=6968&picture=sticks-n-stones) Meet “John” the firefighter. According to this federal court opinion, John (not his real name) is a Christian and holds various moral opinions; he also wears a cross and says grace before meals. And, apparently, there was some friction between John and his co-workers. Here’s how the…

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A case for progressive discipline

Image Credit: https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=124918&picture=bulldozer-tractor-steps I’m going to start this by saying that I’m not a big fan of progressive discipline. (More on that in a bit.)  But, pick up a random employee handbook, and more often than not, it’s in there. For what it’s worth, when followed, progressive discipline does foster equal…

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Court denies man’s pay-disparity claim because, yep, he was paid more than the women. 🤦

By Ludwigs2 – Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5, Link I don’t remember much from law school. “Meyer, quick! Name three of ’em!” Ok. I rocked a bad-ass Nokia 8290. Dan’s Cafe in Adams Morgan was one of my go-to’s. In Employment Law, the professor taught us that pay-disparity claims generally…

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Discrimination. It ain’t rocket science. Well, except when it is.

By National Aeronautics and Space Administration – https://www.nasa.gov/sites/all/themes/custom/nasatwo/images/nasa-logo.svg, used on https://www.nasa.gov/ Former: Converted from Encapsulated PostScript at http://grcpublishing.grc.nasa.gov/IMAGES/Insig-cl.eps, Public Domain, Link Yes, even NASA gets sued for discrimination from time to time. Here is your proof. It’s a case about a really smart person who applied for a few positions…

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Wait, what? What did that store’s general manager just say about the applicant with a hurt arm?

Image Credit: PublicDomainPictures.net (https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=80073&picture=wait-what-blocky-text) Remember the employer that got socked with a six-figure jury award when it refused to allow a cashier to consume two bottles of orange juice from the store’s refrigerator to avoid slipping into diabetic shock? Welp, that employer apparently has not yet mastered the Americans with…

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The woman who worked for a sex-toy store has … wait for it … a sex-plus claim.

Image Credit: http://www.freestockphotos.biz/stockphoto/14050 (nicubunu acquired from OCAL (Website)) On most days, I blog for you, my readers, to educate you on new legal issues and to keep you ahead of the HR-compliance curve. This is not most days. Tuesday, December 4 will be one of those days. If you haven’t…

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This GM’s Facebook posts weren’t enough to sink his employer, but you may not be so lucky.

Social Media Facebook Hand https://www.maxpixel.net/Social-Media-Facebook-Hand-3198088 Yet again, here’s another situation in which off-the-clock social media posts impact the workplace. Last night, I read this opinion, in which the plaintiff, a former janitor at a car dealership, claimed that his race motivated the general manager to demote him. The plaintiff’s evidence…

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340,000 reasons to take harassment complaints about customers seriously

UnknownUnknown author [CC0 or CC0], via Wikimedia CommonsIf you know that one of your customers is getting all racist and handsy with employees, you have to do something about that. You know that, right? It would appear that one California employer didn’t get the memo. And the U.S. Equal Employment…

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Do you have to pay overtime to a drug dealer?

Image Credit: Pexels.com (https://www.pexels.com/photo/cannabis-dispensary-kelowna-dispensary-551798/) I just finished binging the first season of Narcos: Mexico on Netflix, which was awesome! Set in the 1980s, the show explores the growth of the cartel drug trade in Mexico. During one of the episodes, some of the main drug dealers discuss how it is…