Employment law does not specify a time limit. Ideally, any disciplinary action should come very close in time to the incident. When the discipline follows closely to the infraction the effect of the discipline is most effective. Sometimes an investigation…
The week-long suspension is often the last chance disciplinary action before termination. Unpaid suspensions are used as a final attempt to improve an employee’s behavior. This action brings to light the financial consequences of continued behavior issues – an adult…
This is a grey area in California. It is OK to treat exempt and hourly employees differently. It is OK to treat employees in different jobs differently but when employees have the same job, treating them differently can open the…
Negotiating vacation time is a common activity during the hiring process. You can give a new hire three weeks immediately and require a year before allowing another employee one week. This is legal as long as the differences cannot be…
This is an area where state laws vary greatly. Illinois defines seasonal as an employee hired for less than 16 weeks. Even employees that meet the “seasonal†classification are entitled to minimum wage and overtime. Rather than calling these workers…
It may be surprising but favoritism is legal in most cases. It will certainly cause workplace friction and dissatisfaction and is not a good practice but it is legal. This favoritism become very illegal when it is (or appears to…
This is a violation of several laws – both state and federal. This policy violates minimum wage laws by requiring work without pay. Even if you pay the applicants there are other major problems. Applicants are not covered under workers…
FMLA has no specific confidentiality rules. When an employee takes too much time off other employees may wonder if there is some favoritism. The use of FMLA time off can explain the absences to the other employees and dilute feelings…
A company cannot require applicants to perform actual work that benefits the company without paying the applicant for the work. Any demonstration of skills should be done on aâ€mock-up†basis on non-live data and the work cannot be used to…
Very few laws protect applicant confidentiality. References and background checks are regularly discussed as part of the screening process for applicants. This is completely legal. Even casual gossip about applicants, while showing poor business judgment, is not prohibited. Some applicants…
