October, 2012

You be the judge: Can this employer enforce its general release?

October 31, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

Alright folks. Kindly remove your lawyer and HR hats for a moment and don the judicial robe and gavel.

Your Honor, what you must decide, based on the facts that I will lay out below for you after the jump, is whether the release that the Plaintiff-employee signed is enforceable, such that she is precluded from pursuing discrimination claims against her former employer, the Defendant.

Click through if you’re up to the task…

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Salty about Sandy: 20 Hurricane tweets from your employees

October 30, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

Hurricane Sandy: Day 2

To my east-coasters, I hope this post finds you safe and dry.

Me? Hey, thanks for asking. Our Philly home kept power throughout and we otherwise made it through unscathed. Still, Philadelphia remains in a state of emergency. The City is essentially shut down. Most of the major surrounding highways have been off-limits. And, for a second day in a row, for the safety of the drivers and the riders, there is no public transportation in the City.

That means that local businesses too opted to close on Monday, and remain closed on Tuesday. Well, most of them.

To the chagrin of some employees affected by the Hurricane, they had to work. And they have vented on Twitter.

(Insert obligatory Hurricane #Sandy and/or “do I have to go to school or work today” status here).

— Chris Schurz (@ChrisSchurz) October 29, 2012

After the jump, what your employees tweeted about working (or, maybe, not so much) during Hurricane Sandy…

[Don’t shoot the messenger]

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An HR guide to the workplace implications of Hurricane Sandy

October 29, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

I’m punching out this post on Sunday night, from my home in Philadelphia, before the brunt of Hurricane Sandy strikes. Like many of you, I’m locked, stocked, and ready to go, hoping that the impact is far less than is forecasted and the recovery is easy.

Inevitably, however, for you good folks — especially if you have closed shop on Monday, employment issues are sure to arise. To help you out with some of them, read on past the jump…

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GUEST POST: 5 Disability-Discrimination-Law Basics for Employers

October 26, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

Today we have a guest blogger at The Employer Handbook. It’s one of my readers, Joseph Ginarte. Joseph is an employment lawyer with Ginarte, O’Dwyer, Gonzalez, Gallardo Winograd.

Like his post? Feel free to email him some comments!

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

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New equal-rights rules for NJ employers take effect next month

October 25, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

I’d better remember to post this now before I get bitten and turn into a zombie and munch on your face..

[Note to self: Less of “The Walking Dead,” more sleep].

On November 19, 2012, this new law will take effect in NJ, which will require employers of 50 or more employees (zombies not included) to notify their workforce about “the right to be free of gender inequity or bias in pay, compensation, benefits or other terms or conditions of employment under the ‘Law Against Discrimination.”

Fact or Fiction: FMLA covers a tummy-tuck procedure

October 24, 2012 | 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.”

An employee is eligible for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act if the employee has “a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the functions of the position of such employee.” An employee has a serious health condition if there is “an illness, injury, impairment or physical or mental condition that involves inpatient care . . . or continuing treatment by a health care provider.”

Treatments for cosmetic procedures are not serious health conditions unless complications develop from the procedure or inpatient hospital care is required. So, an employee who takes leave for a tummy-tuck procedure is not covered under the FMLA.

What happens in Vegas, becomes an FMLA claim

October 23, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

Your employee vacations in Las Vegas. She plays the slots, walks the Strip, does some people watching, eats at nice restaurants. And she claims it’s all covered under Family and Medical Leave Act.

And, you know what? She may be right. I’ll tell you why after the jump…

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Employee’s Twitter hatin’ costs him unemployment benefits

October 22, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

An employee getting fired for caustic social-media posts is so 2011. Having an application for unemployment-compensation benefits denied because of Twitter stupidity — that’s the new black.

Details of a recent Commonwealth of Pennsylvania decision — don’t tread on me, Idaho — after the jump…

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10 excuses for missing work that are more creative than yours

October 19, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

Sorry about that hangnail. Get well soon and thank you for fighting through the agony to read this post. I’ll make it worth your while.

It’s that time of year again: ~~roadtrip with the boys to the FourLoko distillery~~ CareerBuilder’s Annual Survey of the “Most Unusual Excuses Employees Gave for Calling In Sick.” In last year’s survey, “Employee’s 12-year-old daughter stole his car and he had no other way to work. Employee didn’t want to report it to the police” topped the list.

Find out what made the Top 10 this year, after the jump…

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144 “N”-words, but black employees can’t prove they were offended

October 18, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

Take a few minutes to read this decision. It will blow your mind.

Here’s the long and short of it:

Three black employees sue for race discrimination claiming that they were subjected to a racially-hostile work environment. The court actually did the math: