Let’s say that you learn that one of your employees is testifying as a witness in a discrimination case against another company in your industry. That doesn’t sit right with you. So, you tell this employee that you’ll fire him if he testifies.

Is that legal? Or is that, perhaps, retaliation? Continue reading

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By Henry Mitchell Restoration by Godot13 – Mitchell, Henry (1876) The State Arms of the Union, Boston: L. Prang & Co., Public Domain, Link

City and state-mandated paid sick leave is so 2018.

In 2019, the State of Maine has decided up the ante by requiring most private employers to provide paid leave for any reason. Continue reading

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Image by InspiredImages from Pixabay

Continuing yesterday’s HR Compliance 101 theme, I revisited the EEOC Newsroom and found a recent release that addresses some considerations for when you have an employee that needs leave from work to treat for an illness.

Today’s lesson is a pragmatic and compassionate approach to providing accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Continue reading

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Image Credit: Tommy Boy (screenshot from Vimeo.com)

Last week, I wavered about whether to include a line from Tommy Boy in a brief that I was drafting:

“I tell ya what. If you don’t know how to fasten your seatbelt, just raise your hand and I’ll have Tommy Boy here come back there and hit you in the head with a tack hammer.”

Ultimately, I decided that it was bad form. One could reasonably construe my use of that quote as antagonizing and bit snarky. Moi?!?

So, I’m using it for this blog post instead. Continue reading

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Image Credit: Pixabay.com

Yesterday, I was reading this case about a woman who was fired while taking leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act. She later sued, claiming FMLA interference; i.e., that her employer had denied her FMLA benefits to which she was otherwise entitled.

An employee fired while on FMLA leave is usually a recipe for trouble for the employer.

But not this time. Continue reading

“Doing What’s Right – Not Just What’s Legal”
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