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Articles Posted in Hiring & Firing

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Ok, it’s my turn. Can you forbid an employee from job hunting while on FMLA leave?

On Monday, one of my favorite HR bloggers, Suzanne Lucas a/k/a The Evil HR Lady, addressed (here) a reader question about whether a company can legally prohibit an employee from seeking other employment while on leave covered under the Family and Medical Leave Act. As part of her post, Her Evilness…

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Flushing the toilet on a phone interview — and nine other ways not to get hired

  Well, at least it was a phone interview. Hey, one thing you guys know about me is that I’m all about the low hanging fruit and the cheap laugh. So, when I see that CareerBuilder has published it’s 2016 version of “Employers Share Strangest Interview Mishaps and Biggest Body Language Mistakes,”…

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When must companies accommodate employee medical marijuana use? How about never?

I’ve blogged (here) that grilling a medical marijuana user about her disability, just before firing the employee, could give rise to a viable disability-discrimination claim. In other words, where the disability (as opposed to the medical marijuana use) motivates the employment action, that’s discrimination. I’ve blogged before (here) that the Americans with…

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President Obama wants federal agencies to “Ban the Box”

No more questions about criminal convictions on job applications. Flanked by New Jersey Senator (and former Newark Mayor) Cory Booker (D-NJ), President Obama announced yesterday in Newark, NJ that he would take action to help those with criminal convictions to find jobs. According to a White House Fact Sheet, one of…

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Intern fired for racist tweet. But, wait, it gets worse…

On Tuesday, a Fox affiliate in Arizona reported here that an intern at a health and wellness company was fired for an offensive tweet. Specifically, the intern tweeting a photo showing her and a friend in a cotton field with the caption “Our inner n****r came out today.” The intern quickly deleted…

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Let’s revisit that post about cursing out your boss on Facebook

Last year, at about this time, I blogged here about a case involving some employees who thought that their employer had underpaid them. So, they discussed the matter at work. And then continued their conversation on Facebook, where they used language that wouldn’t quite make an Eagles fan in the 700 level…

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Can You Fire an Employee Based on a Friend’s Facebook Posts?

Well, it depends. Here is the genesis of this article. An employee is fired because of racist comments made by his Facebook “friends.” Earlier this month, a Fox affiliate in Atlanta reported, a local man lost his job after his employer learned about a conversation he had with friends on…

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When your recently-fired employee shares the secret sauce on Twitter

No, the secret sauce isn’t ketchup. Or is it? Literally. [Music] The secret’s out in 140 characters In Texas, there’s a professional football team that could fill an infirmary ward restaurant called Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers. A local FOX affiliate reports here that a recently-fired employee promptly raised Cain (see what I…

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A Bipartisan “Ban the Box” Bill is Introduced in Congress

Some states and cities have made it illegal to ask about criminal convictions on job applications. A new bill introduced last week in both the U.S. House and Senate called the Fair Chance Act may “ban the box” across the country for all federal agencies and federal contractors. With limited exceptions,…