Archive for August 2019
Introducing ’Summer Cleaning’: A New Reason to Update Your Employee Handbook
Everyone is familiar with the concept of spring cleaning; maybe you even organized a few closets or cleaned behind your refrigerator last season. Those chores are good for your home, but did your spring cleaning efforts benefit your organization? Probably not. That’s why we’d like to introduce the concept of “summer cleaning.” Its purpose? To remind…
Read MoreYour Employee Filed An EEOC Charge. Now What?
Charges of discrimination filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) (and similar charges with state and local human relations agencies) are a critical first step in an employee’s discrimination claim. For employers, the importance of responding strategically to such charges cannot be understated. This article will cover what to expect, and will provide a few key strategic…
Read MoreParents May Take FMLA Leave for Special Education Meetings
Parents can take Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) time off to attend special education meetings—called individualized education program (IEP) meetings—for children with serious health conditions, according to an Aug. 8 U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) opinion letter. FMLA leave likely will increase as parents learn that time off for this purpose is an option.…
Read MoreTo Avoid EEOC Actions, Create Policies, Train in Advance
As topics like #MeToo and workplace bias receive continued attention, the importance of understanding how the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) works will only grow. For one thing, experts say, the EEOC’s procedures are complicated and evolving. For another, many companies work under misconceptions that could complicate an already messy situation should they ever be…
Read MoreTiming Alone Is Not Enough to Prove FMLA Retaliation
A short period of time between leave taken under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and a subsequent disciplinary action does not prove the two are related, according to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The plaintiff worked as a surgical assistant for St. Luke’s Episcopal-Presbyterian Hospitals from 1995 until her termination in…
Read MoreEmployee Burnout: A Workplace Safety Hazard?
Employee burnout is now an officially diagnosable condition. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), which recently updated its definition, employee burnout is not a medical condition. Instead, the WHO calls burnout an “occupational phenomenon.” Here’s how the organization is defining it: Burnout is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully…
Read MoreHow Can I Sue Thee? Let Me Count The Ways.
Last week, I talked about five very basic things employers do to get themselves embroiled in employment litigation. They were Discrimination (not only unlawful discrimination, but also favoritism and nepotism, which are legal but are likely to lead to charges and lawsuits because of the perceived unfairness) Failure to consider or make reasonable accommodations Failure…
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