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The Employer Handbook BlogA compassionate employer? Why not?
What do a foot of snow and a compassionate employer have in common? Find out after the jump.
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PA employee sleeps on the job and still collects unemployment
Hi there, Pennsylvania employers. Do you have employees that remind you of the sleeping gentleman in the picture to the right? After the jump, read about a local employee who was fired after getting caught sleeping on the job four times, and still successfully obtained unemployment compensation benefits!
Supreme Court okays third-party-retaliation claims
The United States Supreme Court today in Thompson v. North American Stainless, LP ruled that an employer violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act if it takes action against an employee who is in the same “zone of interest” as another employee who files a Charge of Discrimination with the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
More on this important decision and the immediate impact that it will have on employers after the jump.
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Breastfeeding in the workplace: DOL seeks comments
Last month, the United States Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division issued a request for public comments on its preliminary interpretations of a new provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act that requires employers to provide nursing mothers with reasonable break time and a private space for expressing breast milk while at work.
For more information about this new requirement for employers, check out some previous posts I did on the subject here and here.
The DOL will accept public comments until Feb. 22, 2011 — via http://www.regulations.gov.
Waddaya know? Former hookers can sue for sexual harassment.
I read The Employer Handbook every day. That’ll be $10.”
A federal court has allowed a former prostitute to proceed with claims that her subsequent employer sexually harassed her. More about this defense counsel’s wet dream, after the jump.
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4 ways employers can protect themselves when employees leave
This story that I wrote with my Dilworth Paxson LLP colleague, David Laigaie, the Chair of Dilworth’s Corporate Investigation/White Collar Group, recently appeared in The Legal Intelligencer. If you operate a business in Pennsylvania and you have trade secrets, employees with non-solicitation agreements, or non-competition agreements, then take a few minutes and read this article. You’ll be glad you did.
Employers may have to tell employees how to form a union
The National Labor Relations Board is concerned that your employees don’t know how to form a union. And the Board wants YOU to tell them how to do it. Don’t believe me? Read all about it after the jump.
How to reduce retaliation claims in six easy steps.
The EEOC reported this week that retaliation charges outpaced race discrimination charges at the agency during fiscal year 2010. This is the first time that retaliation charges (under all statutes) surpassed race discrimination charges at the EEOC, making retaliation charges the most frequently type of charge filed at the EEOC last year.
The EEOC’s statistics on retaliation confirm what employers and employment lawyers already know – retaliation claims against employers continue to increase in frequency. Retaliation claims pose a unique hazard to employers; an otherwise baseless claim (for example, an unsubstantiated discrimination claim), when not handled appropriately, can morph into a legitimate retaliation claim. What actions can Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware employers take to prevent a defensible claim from turning into a less than defensible retaliation lawsuit?
My colleague, Katharine Hartman, a labor and employment law attorney who practices with me at Dilworth Paxson LLP, has some suggestions for you after the jump…
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How Facebook Can Make or Break Your Case: The Plaintiff’s Arsenal
By now, hopefully, you’ve read my post “How Facebook Can Make Or Break Your Case.” I wrote it primarily for my fellow members of the defense bar. So, if you haven’t yet read it, and you generally represent employers, shame on you! Stop reading this and go read it now. RIGHT NOW!
Otherwise, keep reading this post to see what plaintiffs’ lawyers
should be doing with social media to help advance their clients cases.
EEOC approves ADA Amendments Act Regulations
Bill Leonard at the Society for Human Resource Management reports that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has approved a final version of its regulations for the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act, a version of which the EEOC put out for public comment back in September 2009.
More after the jump.