The Employer Handbook Blog

Minimum wage bump coming for employees of many Philly contractors

May 12, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Last week, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter signed this Executive Order, which will require that many city contractors provide a minimum wage of $12/hour beginning January 1, 2015. (Although, the Order will also apply to bids and proposals issued May 20, 2014).

The Executive Order also requires that contractors meet that same minimum wage standard for their first-tier subcontractors.

For more on which employers/employee qualify, read the Executive Order.

Survey shows that working moms earns less, but are satisfied with their jobs

May 9, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

This according to this survey released yesterday from CareerBuilder.com.

Working dads who were the sole breadwinners in their household were four times as likely to earn six figures, while working moms who are the sole breadwinners were nearly twice as likely to earn less than $35,000.

However, money may not be everything. That is, 78% of working moms reported they are happy in their current roles at work, with about 2/3rds of working moms having enjoyed the full amount of maternity leave available to them following childbirth.

Social media in the workplace: what’s legal; what’s not? #nextchat

May 8, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Thumbnail image for weknownext.png Yesterday, my buddy Jonathan Segal and I joined forces on Twitter to answer eight questions from SHRM’s We Know Next about the state of the law governing social media and the workplace.

A big thank you to SHRM and to those who were able to join us and participate.

ICYMI, here is a full recap.

Yes, you can have a hostile work environment based on sexual stereotyping.

May 7, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

We’ve talked a fair amount about sexual stereotyping at the ole Handbook.

Here I discussed the cluster created by offering crap assignments to a male employee because he fails to conform to a male stereotype.

And of course, we have my “Ravishing Rick Rude” theory of same-sex harassment, which a federal appellate court crapped all over.

Your contractor is a sexual harasser? You may still be on the hook.

May 6, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Generally, a typical sexual harassment claim involves a supervisor or manager or co-worker making unwelcome sexual advances towards another employee.

But what if, instead of the harasser being one of your employees, it’s an independent contractor.

Does that absolve your company from liability? Is it a valid defense if one of your employees sues you for sexual harassment to point the finger outside of the company?

FACT OR FICTION: There is such a thing as a reverse-disability claim?

May 5, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

That’s right folks. It’s time for another edition of “Fact or Fiction” a/k/a “Quick Answers to Quick Questions” a/k/a QATQQ f/k/a “I don’t feel like writing a long blog post.”

Try this one for size, folks.

In this case, an employee argued that her former employer retaliated against her, by terminating her for complaining about the favorable treatment a co-worker with a special needs child received.

Withdrawing a job offer because of an applicant’s prior injury may violate the ADA

May 2, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Two big EEOC pet peeves right now are:

employers who discriminate in the hiring process; and

employers who violate the Americans with Disabilities Act based on misconceived notions about how an individual’s health could impact that person’s ability to perform essential job functions.

GUEST POST: 4 Overtime Myths Debunked

May 1, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Today we have a guest blogger at The Employer Handbook. It’s Kimberly Erskine.

Ordinarily, when I’m offered a wage-and-hour guest blog post, I just yawn — much like you do with the FLSA posts I do myself. But, this one, written from employee’s perspective, is a worthwhile read for both employees and employers alike.

(Want to guest blog on an employment-law topic at The Employer Handbook? Email me).

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Apparently, selling “Wake The [expletive] Up” coffee raises the “for cause” termination bar

April 30, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Let this be a lesson to those who are thinking about selling “Wake The F*&k Up” Coffee, “The Hottest F*&king Nuts,” or “The Hottest F*&king Sauce.”

Recently, I read this article from Clark Kauffman in the Des Moines Register about a cashier at the Last Chance Market in Iowa, who was allegedly fired after she and a customer began discussing various sexual activities in front of other customers. These customers then complained to management about the sexual banter, hence the pink slip.

Not that the employer need a reason to fire the crude cashier. Presumably, she was an at-will employee. But, the stakes are raised when an employee files for unemployment compensation benefits. That is, generally speaking, a terminated employee will receive u/c, unless the termination is for some sort of willful misconduct.

Teacher can’t return to work two weeks after maternity leave ends, but may have an ADA claim

April 29, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Recently, I gave a webinar about the interplay between the Family and Medical Leave Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. One of the takeaways there was that, when an employee’s 12 weeks of FMLA leave expire, you need to be thinking about ADA implications rather than processing a pink slip at 12 weeks and a day. This is because additional leave may be a reasonable accommodation.

The same issues can arise if you have a pregnant employee. That is, you need to consider the interplay between the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and the ADA.

A recent case shows how the ADA may apply to pregnant employees.