Archive for the ‘Termination, Discipline’ Category
EMPLOYEE ARBITRATION AGREEMENTS
Case Study Illustrates Drafting “Do’s” and “Don’ts” California law very strongly supports two potentially conflicting policies on the handling of employment disputes. On the one hand, employees and employers alike have rights to have their civil claims heard by a jury in a formal court proceeding. On the other, this state recognizes the rights of […]
TERMINATION, MISCONDUCT AND UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS
Refusal to Sign a Disciplinary Memo Disqualifies a California Worker In California, an employee terminated for “misconduct” is disqualified from receiving unemployment benefits. In Paratransit Inc. v. Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board (Medeiros) (May 31, 2012), the Court of Appeal found an employee’s declining to sign a “receipt” line at the bottom of a disciplinary notice […]
PROGRESSIVE DISCIPLINE IN THE WORKPLACE
Nice Idea, But Don’t Promise The wisdom of implementing a progressive discipline policy – imposing ever greater consequences upon an employee’s repeated misconduct – would seem a personnel management no-brainer. After all, it’s only fair to give an errant but largely productive employee a second or third chance. It would also be poor judgment for […]
USING CRIMINAL RECORDS IN JOB SCREENING
Recent Federal Guidelines on Preventing Discrimination It is nearly a given that employers will ask for an applicant’s criminal conviction record in the hiring process. However, past guilt for a crime is not always a legitimate factor in the employment decision. For example, a conviction for a decades-old traffic offense might well be irrelevant on […]
EMPLOYEE THEFT PREVENTION AND HANDLING
Proceed with Good Judgment The best handling for workplace theft is to prevent it in the first place. Suspected or alleged employee thievery – and an employer’s twin obligations to protect the group against an actual thief and to protect the accused from false charges — is a delicate challenge. A company’s much more straightforward […]
DEFINING EMPLOYEE COMMISSIONS
All California Agreements Must be in Writing by 2013 As we have reported, in a few short months (by January 1, 2013), California Labor Code section 2751 will require all businesses to ensure employee commission agreements are in writing. See, “Employee Sales Commissions: California Requires Written Agreements by End of 2012.” While it is a […]
CONSTRUCTIVE DISCHARGE AND WRONGFUL TERMINATION
Employers Should Curb Workplace Verbal Battles An employer is not only liable for actually terminating a worker on the basis of race, gender, national origin and other protected classifications. A worker may also have a claim if the employer “unlawfully constructively discharged” that person (also known as “unlawful (or wrongful or illegal) constructive termination” or […]
SOCIAL MEDIA POLICIES IN THE WORKPLACE
How Far Can Employers Go to Curb Use by Employees? An employer’s ability to legitimately discipline or terminate workers who use Facebook, Twitter and other social media to tee-off on allegedly improper work conditions or practices is likely to remain a hotly contested issue for years to come. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is […]
RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS AND EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION
U.S. Supreme Court Rules Ministers May Not Sue The U.S. Supreme Court has issued its first decision on the “ministerial exception” to workplace discrimination laws, Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (January 11, 2012). In a unanimous ruling, the Court found that while certain laws authorize workers to sue their […]
WORKPLACE MIAS
Termination for Absence or Lateness As “at-will” status permits either the employer or the employee to freely end the relationship even with no advance notice and for no reason at all, obviously a business can legitimately terminate an “at-will” worker for not showing up or for being late. However, there are some practical considerations. Normally, […]