Close

The Employer Handbook Blog

Updated:

It’s fairly safe to assume that an employee with chest pains needs FMLA.

  Among other things, the Family and Medical Leave Act affords an eligible employee up to 12 weeks of leave from work in 12-month period for a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the essential functions of his or her job. We know that, to take covered leave,…

Updated:

How could dementia not be covered under the FMLA? (Psst, I’ll tell you how).

  The Family and Medical Leave Act allows eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of leave in a 12-month period for, among other reasons, to care for a parent with a serious health condition. Most FMLA serious health conditions are plainly obvious: Cancer, HIV, dementia. But, then again… The…

Updated:

Sorry, NLRB. Using an iPhone to secretly record a conversation with your boss may be criminal

Remember last month when I told you to short crude oil futures and bet the Broncos to win the Super Bowl about how the National Labor Relations Board concluded that an employer could not maintain a workplace rule that banned employees from recording workplace conversations, absent prior company approval. (More on that here).…

Updated:

Lady Murderface’s Yelp for Help on Social Media Costs Her a Job…at Yelp

(See what I did there? We’ll get to the Lady Murderface part soon enough). On Sunday, may Google Alert for “Fired AND Facebook OR Twitter” yielded several related stories that scratched my itch: “I can’t afford to buy groceries”: Yelp fired an employee after her scathing open letter to the CEO –…

Updated:

9 simple steps to drafting a bangin’ EEOC Position Statement

If you’ve ever had to address a Charging Party’s EEOC Charge of Discrimination, you know that drafting a good Position Statement, in which the specific claims of discrimination are addressed and supported with documents and facts is hella-key. This especially holds true now that the EEOC has announced new nationwide procedures that provide…

Updated:

A message from Stevie Wonder on providing accommodations to individuals with disabilities

Watch this video of Stevie Wonder at the Grammy’s. Ignore the tragic wardrobe selection. Instead, listen to the message about increasing accessibility to people with disabilities, and make sure that it carries over into your workplace. Remember it before… Your company insists that a job candidate with renal disease must…

Updated:

That’s What They Said: “Justice Scalia’s impact on HR and employment law”

I really need to create a new meme. Over the weekend, the Supreme Court lost a true giant with the unexpected death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia. Unfortunately, I can’t offer a fitting eulogy. I have no personal anecdotes; indeed, I’ve never met Justice Scalia. And, while I can quote episodes of…