Discrimination

ADA/FMLA

MVSarine — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:29:13 GMT

An employee recently returned from FMLA with a complete release. However, we have found that he is still having difficulty with his prosthetic (part of the reason he was on leave) and is having difficulty driving related to that (and some vision issues). He has admitted that he is having difficulty driving and the company is trying to work with him in finding a way to have him remain working.

Originally, we had considered having his spouse drive him but she is not an employee of the company and we are not looking to bring her onboard @ this time.

We are now considering: 1) fitting the car so he can drive with his upper extremities or 2) having him work from home as an inside sales rep (v. outside sales rep which is his current job).

A few questions:

1 - Can we get a 2nd opinion on whether he should actually be cleared to RTW (based on the difficulties he is currently experiencing)?

2 - If he is put in a telesales position, he will be paid commissions only. Our Telesales out of HQ are currently paid a salary plus commission. Do we need to worry about the difference in payplans?

Are there any other concerns that I am missing that I should be aware of?

Thank you for your assistance.

Applicant's Birth Date

LHSsoccer13 — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 22:00:54 GMT

I just had an interesting situation happen and I was wondering what everyone's take might be. Our Executive Assistant was booking travel for an applicant to travel to our corporate office. When purchasing the ticket she was prompted by the airline to enter the person's birth date. Apparently airlines are being made to get this information effective 1/1/2010 but some airlines have introduced the policy ahead of time.

Not thinking anything about it, our Exec. Asst. emailed the applicant to get her birth date. The applicant provided the information along with a note saying that it was illegal for us to ask this information. After some initial brainstorming the best current idea we've got is that all applicants will have to purchase their own tickets and submit for reimbursement.

Any ideas/thoughts/suggestions?

What is your policy/investigation method for sexual harassment between customer and employee?

aargiro1975 — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:12:01 GMT

We have an employee that was sexually harassed by a customer of ours (at the customer's office). What is your investigation method with the customer regarding sex. harassment? Do you cut ties with the customer? Your thoughts.

ADA

6375839 — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 21:53:28 GMT

Am I correct in thinking that someone who has a permanent partial disability rating due to a back injury and has a permenant restriciton limiting them to Medium/Heavy work, would qualify as having a disability under the ADA even though the doctor discharged them from care and specified the person should be able to meet the physical demands of their normal duties?

EMPLOYEE RETALATION

dannett — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 21:00:05 GMT

I HAVE AN EMP WHO HAS STOLEN HER PERSONAL FILE WITH HER WARNING NOTICES AND ALL OF THE SIGNED DOCUMENTS FOR CHECK DEDUCTIONS,ACCEPTANCE OF COMPANY POLICIES, ETC. SINCE THIS SHE WAS WRITTEN UP FOR SOMETHING OTHER AND HAS REFUSED TO SIGN IT, LATER ASKING FOR A COPY OF IT. WHEN I ASKED HER TO FILL OUT NEW W4 & ALL OTHER DOCUMENTS SHE DID NOT FILL OUT THE AUTHORIZATION FOR CHECK DEDUCTIONS. DO I LEGALLY HAVE THE RIGHT TO TELL HER SHE CANT COME BACK TO WORK UNTIL THIS IS SIGNED.

Retalation

jackie123 — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 03:39:12 GMT

Situation arose last week where my bosses ex-partner (who he owes a tremendous amount of money too and isn't paying him) came into the office. I was given a heads by my boss and told when he leaves to give him a call. His ex-partner did come in, however, rather just leaving others employees came up to talk to him about the business. I called my boss shortly thereafter and told him what had happened. He was incrediably upset with the other employees talking to his ex-partner about the business and confronted them over the phone that same day.

The next day, he takes everyone in the company and tells them that no one is to talk about the company to his ex-partner. Later that day, the individuals that spoke to his partner the previous day were very upset with me because I told the boss. I tried talking (without my boss) to them all later that day however they just walked away and said they didn't have time to talk to me about it. Now my boss is all friends and joking and having a good time.

The last couple of days I have been incrediably stressed and very sick over this whole experience. Can't eat..can't sleep.

I tried taking my boss aside and explaining that I can't work like this. He assured me we would have a meeting today to work everything out. It didn't happen.

I have 2 problems with this situation...first my family is literally invested in this company. No joke. Well over 100k however, no one except my boss knows about it. He feels that if we tell the employees they would quit.

No. 2 at the meeting and later I learned. These same employees lied to my boss onto what really happened when I took them aside and tried to work things out. They claim they could not understand what I was saying and that they did not walk out. What was really sad is they told me they were going to lie to him...it was 3 against 1 and who was he going to believe.

I am not sure what to do at this point...first and foremost I am concerned about my health. It is literraly torture to go into that building. I am treated so badly. I am also in the middle of buying a house...so I can't really just quit.

Advice??? Any advice...

Supervisor not allowed to provide input

PayrollNovice4 — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 16:50:58 GMT

We have a situation where internal management (and HR) staff are circumventing one of our supervisors to assign special projects and new tasks to his direct report. The employee has developed very close relationships with management and HR and I'm afraid this may be some of the reason why the supervisor is being circumvented and not allowed to provide feedback regarding this employee's workload before he's assigned additional tasks. The supervisor is concerned that the employee is being overloaded and he knows this employee will not raise his hand if he feels pressured or is not able to meet his deliverables. Any suggestions on how this should be addressed? Thank you.

Need Help With Tattoo Policy

jbierman — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 20:50:18 GMT

I am hoping someone can help me out with a tattoo policy......

Currently we do not have a policy regarding tattoos, however, we would like to implement one. We would at the very least like to make the general rule that no tattoos are allowed if they are visible...especially if you are in front of a customer. It would seem easy enough to write a policy for our outside sales associates since they are in front of our customers but we have a couple of truck drivers who have many tattoos that are visible and even if they wore long sleeve shirts, the tattoos would be visible because they run down their hands to their fingers. They are at customer sites just like the outside sales folks, however, they only are in the loading docks and not running around the customer site or in front of the owners or managers. How do I make a general policy that doesn't discriminate against one group or the other.

I also don't know how to address the inside office associates who have tattoos but never see the customer. We really don't want to see their tattoos either just because we don't think it looks professional but again, where do you draw the line? Currently all of the men who work inside who have tattoos, have kept them covered up, however, we have one female employee who has one on her hand and one on her *** that you can see depending on what she wears to work. Can I say the one on her ring finger is okay but all others need to be covered up? I don't want to discriminate against the men by making them stay covered up when I have a female who has her hand tattoos visible (they are small and discreet, for what it is worth).

How can I write about a policy that encompasses all of the above without discriminating any of the above employees? While I am at it, I would also like to address piercings in the same manner. The same female associate with the tattoos, has multiple face piercings in addition to multiple ear piercings. Again, she doesn't see the customer so we have allowed her to get away with it but it has made it hard to address the males who have just ear piercings and we want them to take out the earring in case they come into contact with a customer. We always feel like our hands are tied.

any help you can provide, is greatly appreciated.

Self-Identify EEO status for applicants

CarolL1999 — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 19:58:11 GMT

I am implementing procedures that require applicants to fill out an EEO self-identify form regarding their gender and race/ethnicity. I attended a conference last year in which we were advised that if an applicant declines to self-ID, it is okay to "guess" based on observation. This made sense to me as a solution to the dilemma of being required to report this data in an affirmative action plan but not offered a category called "other," "non-response," etc.

Some staff are having a hard time understanding why this kind of guessing is permitted, so I'm checking to see if others do visual observation or if there are better solutions to this dilemma. And I wonder, what do folks do who have an online system for submitting resumes and applications to positions?

Asking an employee to retire

LynnyPenny — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 16:22:51 GMT

My company has an employee who is well over the age of 65. This individual has mentioned several times in the last few years that they are planning on "retiring at the end of the year". Of course, when that time comes along, the employee continues working saying that they'll just retire next year instead.

Unfortunately, we have started to notice behavior with possible indications of dimensia or something along those lines. I'm not quite sure what to do in this situation. Can we offer the employee retirement and assign a date to it, or would that be considered age discrimination? I'm also not sure how the potential "condition" affects this. Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated.

ADA question

Connexiom — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 23:38:02 GMT

In the first year of employment the employee has 20 days of unplanned time off working in a semiconductor wafer fab with chemicals.

The first intervention was coaching and clarification of expectations after the first 3 unplanned time off events. The next event was followed up with a "verbal discussion", the first step in the company formal corrective action process.

When the employee had another string of absences in the first six months of employment he requested a medical leave which was granted. (the employee was not eligible for FMLA). Upon his return with temporary restrictions he finds himself unable to do the work and requests an extension of the medical leave which is granted.

Three weeks later he returns to work with temporary restrictions but continues the pattern of unplanned time off and leaving before the end of shift. Finally a written performance plan, the second step in formal corrective action, is created and discussed with the employee who requests a transfer to another area.

Within hours of working in the new area the employee claims his lungs are damaged by the chemicals and begins a workers comp case.

The workers comp doctor and industrial hygenist find the employee had a preexisting asthema and there was no chemical exposure - the claim was denied by WC and the WC doctor stated: "He / p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1is now and always has been fully fit to carry out his usual job duties without restriction".

The employee and is doctor now claims he is disabled under ADA and expects an accommodation. The employee's doctor disagrees with the WC doctor.

The company has no positions for his skill set where chemical exposure is not a possibility.

The supervisor is empathetic towards the employee with a health problem and is concerned about personal liability of assigning the person to a job that causes injury. He is also concerned about safety of other employees during an asthma attack in a work environment full of hazards where alertness is an essential function.

HR is telling the supervisor to ignore the ADA claim, return the employee to work in the same area as before and manage the time off problem terminating him if he continues to have unplanned time off. The very nature of the health problem will require unplanned time off. The supervisor feels this is a setup to fail on two counts - it puts the employee in an unsafe work environment given the condition and the employee is not capable of meeting the time off expectation.

The employee is telling the supervisor that he is concerned for his health being exposed to chemicals and cannot work in the environment. He already feels the environment has made his condition worse.

What advice do you give this supervisor?

ADA issue to publicize a walkathon for employees through our volunteerism committee

Bucky333 — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:31:24 GMT

Our large non profit, as an active response to support at least two strategic plan goals, created a committee to support and encourage volunteerism. We have a quarterly newsletter that provides news on any group of employees volunteering, news of organizations needing support and current information on efforts such as food, toy and coat/blanket drives that our organization supported.

One of our programs is very involved with ADA and the committee has been approached with concerns that our promtion of these events or even partial sponsorship could lead to potential ADA issues. A walk a thon, created for the American Cancer Society, is one of the events that we would publicize through our newsletters. Does anyone see any potential liability that could surface with this kind of support?

Thanks for any guidance.

What to do? Any insight appreciated

scyr — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 07:38:46 GMT

The setting is a Level 1 Trauma Center with a full time position available for a registered nurse on the night shift. The same group of nurses always works together, so there are 2 teams for nights and 2 teams for days. Carol is the team leader of the night shift with the open position. Carol was informed that there were 8 applicants for the position. She was told by the department manager (Dan) that she would be notified of the date and time interviews would be held as she would be included in the interviewing process.

However what happened was that she was not notified or included in the process. The interviews were held by the dept manager (Dan), one of the day shift team leaders (Steve), and another male nurse who does not even work in the same department. At the time interviews were held there was a female team leader available in the department. However instead of including her in the interviewing process they went outside the department and found another male nurse to complete the interview team. This all male interview group then chose the only male applicant. This person was an outside applicant. There were other applicants that were part time employees of the hospital with more years experience, and with more education. Those applicants were female. The hospital policy is that all positions are posted to in house staff prior to outside posting. The interview group did not include anyone that works on the shift for which they were interviewing. There was no interview that lasted for more than 15 minutes.

Many of the staff (myself included) feel that this was not a fair and unbiased interview, and would like to know how to best deal with this. The department manager was not receptive to discussing this.

Thank you in advance for any thought you might be willing to share on this.

Speaking English Required

American Metals — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 22:11:17 GMT

I have a small manufacturing plant in Baird, Texas about 20 employees. All management speaks english. Can I require that English be spoken. I think it would be a safety issue.

DUI Background Checks.

pedaltodaflo — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 19:16:32 GMT

I am just wondering if any investment banks would disqualify someone with a DUI on their record in a background check.

Sexual Harassment

American Metals — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 21:51:02 GMT

My boss and his girlfriend are constantly making out in front of me and everyone. It is quiet grotesque. Where does sexual inapproprietness come into play. What can be done?

Could this be a possible double edged sword?

6304153 — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 16:31:00 GMT

A question was asked of me by one of our supervisors. We currently hire persons with valid perscriptions for certain drugs (i.e. pain medication) that are prescribed by a doctor with completetion of a drug screen with acceptable level indicators. However, we will not hire persons who are on the drug Methadone for use of the treatment of addiction. Could this be seen as a legal problem later on?

ADA Anxiety

KLeede — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 15:27:16 GMT

An employee claims he has anxiety attacks and needs an accommodation in order to do his job. I asked him to bring in documentation from his doctor but he came back a few days later saying his doctor advised him not to give us the information. I don't want to insist that he give us the info because of HIPAA, but without it we can't figure out what to do - or if we even need to do anything. Are we in trouble if we refuse to continue with the process of trying to accommodate? Anyone ever handled a similar situation?

employee heath condition

American Metals — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:38:35 GMT

I have an employee who is a welder in our fab shop. This position requires the ability to think and act quickly. My problem is this ee has epilepsy and the medication he is on significantly slows down his cognitive processes. He often seems discombobulated and unable to account for the methods and process he uses. He is a very good employee and an asset as he does what ever is asked of him. He exhibits company pride and loyalty. In the past months his epilepsy has been a factor as he has had seizures more often requiring his dr.s to change his medication. This new medication is making his thought process even slower. My dilemma is what kind of liability do I as an employer have if he hurts himself or someone else because he is unable to react fast enough in this fast pace environment?

ADA confidentiality breech?

Elizabeth111222 — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 01:04:59 GMT

An employee requested Medical leave for treatment for a psychological condition. In processesing her paperwork it became known that she is on medication that may alter her abilty to function as a nurse. Is this information protected under the ADA from reporting her liscense to the state while she is off recieving treatment? Can an employer use the information obtained through medical cetification against them?

Application Question- Nepotism

amandaware — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:50:57 GMT

The State of NM has marital affiliation protection in its state code. We have a large problem with nepotism in our facility (i.e. managers hiring family members or family members of other employees).

In the State of NM is it discriminatory if I ask on the pre-employement application:

Are you related to another employee?

Attendance Issue - nepotism?

4612155 — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 18:13:13 GMT

We recently had an employee miss three consecutive days of work due to being sick. When she returned to work her manager requested a doctor's note releasing her to return to work and told her that if she couldn't produce this note she would have to leave work until she had one. She has filed a complaint with us because she found out her co-worker (who happens to be the manager's son) was not required to submit a doctor's note to return to work when he was also recently gone for three days due to an illness. Now here's where I am confused (aside from being royally irritated with the manager) - our company policy does not state anywhere that an employee who misses 3 consecutive days of work has to submit a doctor's note releasing them to return to work. However, is there some kind of law here in Kansas that requires that for ALL employees? I can't find any information regarding this issue and I'm not sure if it's a regulation or just "common knowledge." Obviously, the employee has a very valid complaint and it will be investigated completely. I know how we will proceed with this but I want all my ducks in a row prior to the conclusion of the investigation. Also, I want to amend our policy to make it mandatory for all employees to submit doctor's notes when they are out at least 3 consecutive days due to illness - whether the state requires it or not. Thanks for your help - attendance issues aren't my strong point.

EE Investigations

evaus2 — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 15:38:51 GMT

Hello I'm new to the world of HR Management in the retail industry, and one of my weaknesses is in the area of investigations. Does anyone have any resources they would be willing to share that details how to conduct an effective investigation regarding harassment, misconduct, etc. My email any resources to '); document.write('yahoo.com');//--> evaus2yahoo.com

THE OLDER WORKERS BENEFIT PROTECTION ACT: ? on matrix chart

JRG517 — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 19:11:33 GMT

Hello Hr Friends,

I'm hoping that your expertise will guide me. Does anyone know if when creating the chart or matrix to go along with the separation letter to older workers who are affected for a mass layoff, must you provide the information for their 'organizational unit' only?? For example if a group is comprised of 4 units that belong to the same department (example: IT) and there is an organizational structure and the layoff will occur in 1 of the units, do you provide information on the chart for all 4 units or just the 1 unit that is being affected??

Thank you in advance

35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42
Accountant 1	4	1	2		1
Engineer 11	1		1	2		4		1
Secretary 111		1		3	1	1	4

Advice for writing narrative when AA/EEO goals not met

4321703 — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 22:51:35 GMT

Here is the exact verbiage from the request:

Give a narrative explanation of the progress toward meeting each of the utilization goals for minorities, women and people with disabilities listed in the contractor's Affirmative Action Program.

I am struggling with this as I am new with this company. During the standard AA/EEO semi-annual compliance report process I have discovered area's in which we can enhance our processes that will ultimately enable us to more closely monitor our progress and address any areas of concern .

That being said, I do not have enough data to adequately articulate the progress made, if any was made.