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The Employer Handbook BlogMAJOR wage and hour news in PA! Minimum wage going ☝️; Proposed salary-level test going 👇, and more!
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Where do we even begin? Continue reading
Articles Posted in Pennsylvania
This great federal court decision I read offers seven keys to a proper severance agreement
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A lawyer claimed that his employer had discriminated against him based on his race, color, gender, and age, when it terminated his employment and filled a position nearly identical to that which he held prior to his termination with a younger, African-American woman. So he sued.
Oh, I forgot one important fact. By the time he sued, the lawyer-plaintiff had already signed a severance agreement and release (the “Release”). Continue reading
Pennsylvania, yes Pennsylvania, announces new overtime rules that are more generous than federal law
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About a year or so ago, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf announced a plan to direct the Department of Labor & Industry (PA’s version of the DOL) to change the overtime rules in PA: Continue reading
Get your damn story straight if you’re going to fire someone who just returned from medical leave.
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I’ve talked a fair amount recently about retaliation claims (here and here), mostly focusing on timing as the possible link between a protected activity (such as a complaint of discrimination) and an adverse employment action (like a firing).
The plaintiffs in those cases were unsuccessful in proving retaliation. And, in the case about which I’m blogging today, the employer almost prevailed on summary judgment too.
Almost. Continue reading
When do (or don’t) Facebook posts create a hostile work environment?
By Nut-hardware.jpg: Muke derivative work: Xoristzatziki (talk) – Nut-hardware.jpg, Public Domain, Link
I can tell you this. It takes more than a few posts from a couple of ‘Wingnuts.’
SCOOP! PA businesses may have to allow employees to use medical marijuana outside of work
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This definitely caught me flat-footed. Continue reading
PA Supreme Court will decide whether two businesses can agree not to poach each other’s employees
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Company A and Company B work together from time to time on certain projects. Both companies have invested a lot of time, money, and other resources into their respective workforces and do not want to risk employees switching companies. So, they enter into a no-hire or no-poach agreement; e.g., a ‘contract’ between two businesses where they agree not to hire the others’ employees during their business relationship and for some time after it ends.
Is that legal? Continue reading
72 police officers in trouble over offensive Facebook posts is your wake-up call to reeducate employees about responsible social media.
By Zuzu – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
I’m typing this post in Las Vegas at the 2019 SHRM Annual Conference and Exposition. Several years ago, the intersection employee use of social media and HR compliance spawned several sessions on the topic. I should know; I delivered many of them.
In 2019 however, that topic seems played out.
But, make no mistake about it, employee abuse of social media is still a big problem for many workplaces in the United States. Continue reading
You can’t fire an employee while on FMLA leave. Except when you can.
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Yesterday, I was reading this case about a woman who was fired while taking leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act. She later sued, claiming FMLA interference; i.e., that her employer had denied her FMLA benefits to which she was otherwise entitled.
An employee fired while on FMLA leave is usually a recipe for trouble for the employer.
But not this time. Continue reading