The Employer Handbook Blog

@Eric_B_Meyer on DriveThruHR #dthr

February 22, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

Have you checked out DriveThruHR yet?

DriveThruHR is the baby of Bryan Wempen and William Tincup, a half-hour radio show on which these two HR leaders, along with a guest, discuss the latest trends, thoughts and sentiment within the industry.

Yesterday, I was on DriveThruHR, Human Resource’s #1 Daily Radio, talking social media and the workplace, Americans with Disabilities Act, hockey, and gettin’ freaky with the mashed potatoes. Yeah, that’s right. Hockey.

8 employee-handbook tips from Django Unchained. Yes, seriously.

February 21, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

My buds over at TLNT.com are running a series of movie-themed HR posts leading up to next week’s Oscar Awards.

Here is my submission. Enjoy!

Supreme Court to determine what “clothes” are under the FLSA.

February 20, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

With a title like that, this post could only arouse the interest of an employment lawyer.

But, all of y’all should pay attention.

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the period of time during which a covered employee must be paid begins when the worker engages in a principal activity. Putting on and taking off (or, in legalese, “donning and doffing”) protective clothing is considered a principal activity. However, the FLSA expressly provides that employees don’t get paid for time spent “changing clothes” if a union contract says so.

Manager’s drunk Facebook threats + Boss’s Buddha blogging = retaliation claim?

February 19, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

No body shots here; just a swift federal court kick to Coyote Ugly’s social-media jewels.

You get the ice. I’ll pour a double and serve up the details after the jump…

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GUEST POST: The ADA and Test-Taking

February 15, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

Today we have a guest blogger at The Employer Handbook. It’s my colleague, Katharine Hartman. Katharine is an associate in Dilworth Paxson’s Labor & Employment Group, but also asked that I give a little shoutout to our new Test Publishing, Certification and Licensure Group.

So holla!

After the jump is a little cross-over between the two. Hope you like it.

(Want to guest blog at The Employer Handbook? Email me).

Bitter Barista blogs his way out of job by smack-talking customers, boss

February 14, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

Facebook firings have been so en vogue recently. See, Exhibits A, B, and C.

But, let’s not forget that there are many other social-media platforms off of which employees can belly-flop into the unemployment pool.

{That image seemed somehow less harsh in my head. Now that I see it on screen. Oh well…}

Will Congress expand FMLA to include bereavement leave?

February 13, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

Yesterday, we addressed (here) the possibility of Congress taking up paid sick leave shortly.

Now, there is word that the Parental Bereavement Act, last considered in 2011 as an amendment to the Family and Medical Leave Act, is back on the table.

Last week, in this press release, Senator Jon Tester (D-MT), announced that he and and Congressman Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) will champion the effort to change the FMLA to allow parents grieving from the death of their son or daughter to receive up to 12 weeks of job-protected time-off.

Keep an eye out for a new paid-sick-leave bill in Congress

February 12, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

Coming soon, so says Senator Tom Harkin here.

Known as the “Healthy Families Act,” this bill was introduced in the House in 2009, and again in both the House and Senate in 2011, but never got much traction.

But now, in addition to Senator Harkin, former President Bill Clinton is stumping for paid FMLA.

Pennsylvania nears a game-changing whistleblower-law amendment

February 11, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

Can you blow my whistle baby, whistle baby.
Let me know.
Girl I’m gonna show you how to do it.
And we start real slow.
You just put your lips together.
And you come real close.
Can you blow my whistle baby, whistle baby?
Here we go.

Concerned with the limited scope of Pennsylvania’s Whistleblower Law, the existential activist Flo Rida wrote the 2012 hit Whistle to raise awareness and trigger a potentially huge change in the law.

{Editor’s Note: No he didn’t. Not at all.}

Facebook photos from a Mexican vacation foil an employee’s FMLA claims

February 8, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

Image Credit: Pixabay.com

I have three kids, ages three and under. So a vacation for me is the half hour of quiet time I get in the bathroom every morning.

It’s not like the old days.

I remember Spring Break ’97 in the Bahamas. Sun, beach, water sports, and a couple of adult beverages.

It was kinda like the Mexican vacation that Carol Lineberry, a former employee of Detroit Medical Center, took back in 2011. These pictures she posted on Facebook — we didn’t have Facebook back in the day, so I’ll deny everything. EVERYTHING! — show that Ms. Lineberry is having a blast in Mexico.

Did I mention that Lineberry took this trip while taking leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act? Of course, she did. And now she’s on The Employer Handbook.

See how that works? Like a Zoolander gasoline fight, trust me, this won’t end well for Lineberry. No, it won’t.

Read more after the jump…

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