As you know,  the EEOC has been attacking maximum leave provisions in leave of absence policies for quite some time.  According to the EEOC, maximum leave provisions violate the ADA. See http://blogs.duanemorrisinstitute.com/jsegal/date/201101

Now, the EEOC is going after attendance control policies. Please see summary of recent $20 million EEOC settlement with Verizon for allegedly not excluding absences covered by the ADA from its no fault attendance control policy. See http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/7-6-11a.cfm Continue reading EEOC Attacks Attendance Control Policies →

Please see link to article I wrote for Businessweek on practical guidance for executives, managers and supervisors on use of and responding to social media: http://www.businessweek.com/management/social-medias-seven-deadly-sins-08092011.html. Feel free to forward as appropriate.

This blog should not be construed as legal advice, as pertaining to specific factual siutations or as creating an attorney-client relationship.

Our jobs are stressful, to say the least. One way we can help ourselves is to help others.

The last 6 weeks before Labor Day is Vacation season for many of us. We need it. Continue reading Manage Stress; Save A Shelter Animal →

Please see letter to the editor on wage theft in the absence of bad intent:

http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20110708_Letters_to_the_Editor.html?viewAll=y

The letter/blog should not be construed as legal advice, establishing an attorney-client relationship or applying to specific factual situations.

On April 13, 2011, the Mayor of the City of Philadelphia signed an Ordinance entitled “Fair Criminal Record Screening Standards.” The Philadelphia Ordinance, which goes into effect on July 13, 2011, applies to private employers of 10 or more employees in the City of Philadelphia.  The Philadelphia Ordinance makes it unlawful for an employer to make any inquiry about, to take any adverse action against any person on the basis of or to require any person to disclose or reveal any arrest or criminal accusation, not then pending, which did not result in a conviction. The Ordinance goes a step further and limits the ability of an employer to ask about or consider criminal convictions as part of the early stages of the application process.  Employers cannot ask about criminal convictions on the application process or during the initial interview. It is only after the initial interview that employers may ask about criminal convictions.  The Ordinance provides limited exemptions, including instances in which “inquiries or adverse actions otherwise prohibited by the Ordinance are specifically authorized by other applicable law.” The scope of this exemption is far from clear.  However, there are three (3) potential ways that one could try to interpret the exemption: Continue reading Outside the Philadelphia Box: Limited Exemption →

Last week, the DOL issued guidance on how employees can use smartphones to keep track of their time (which could aid employees in investigations and or lawsuits).  You have to read it yourself to believe it:

The U.S. Department of Labor announced the launch of its first application for smartphones, a timesheet to help employees independently track the hours they work and determine the wages they are owed.  Available in English and Spanish, users conveniently can track regular work hours, break time and any overtime hours for one or more employers.  This new technology is significant because, instead of relying on their employers’ records, workers now can keep their own records.  This information could prove invaluable during a Wage and Hour Division investigation when an employer has failed to maintain accurate employment records. Continue reading The DOL and Smartphones: Be Smart and Take the Offensive →

On April 13, 2011, the Mayor of the City of Philadelphia signed an Ordinance entitled “Fair Criminal Record Screening Standards” which establishes requirements for the screening of criminal records by certain employers within the City of Philadelphia and limits an employer’s ability to consider arrests and convictions of job applicants.  The stated purpose of the legislation is to “give the individual with a criminal record an opportunity to be judged on his or her own merit during the submission of the application and at least until the completion of an interview.” Continue reading Philadelphia’s Ban the Box Plus Federal and State Laws Too →

When I was in college, I had an incredible professor who used to talk about the “unanticipated evil consequences of virtuous social action.” I had no idea what he meant but he sounded so regal that I wrote down what he said every time until it become indelibly etched in my mind.

I heard my professor’s voice when I read the EEOC’s new regulations on the ADA as amended. While the ADA is indeed virtuous social action, it is now even riskier than before to try to help an employee whom you suspect has a physical or mental problem unless he or she asks for help first and here’s why. Continue reading The Unintended Adverse Consequences of the ADA →

In terms of avoiding discrimination claims, we all have heard (and sometimes preached) the importance of consistency.  Treat people the same and you minimize the risk of being sued for discrimination (unless the employee argues they were not similarly situated so that treating them similarly was discriminatory).

One way we can maximize consistency is by having clear rules.  Clear rules remove the discretion (and sometimes the thinking) that can create the apparent inconsistency that may serve as the fodder for individual discrimination rules. Continue reading The EEOC’s Inconsistency on Consistency? →

Pennsylvania Act 102 covers health care providers (broadly defined) in Pennsylvania.  It prohibits covered employers from mandating that covered employees work “overtime” except under certain limited circumstances.

Generally speaking, covered employees include employees directly involved in direct patient care and other clinical services.  Employees not covered by Act 102 include, but are not limited to,  physicians, physician assistants and patient care/clinical supervisors who are paid on a salaried (but not hourly) basis. Continue reading PA Act 102: Prohibition On Mandatory Overtime Covers More Than FLSA Overtime →