"This & That" Tuesday: Racial Harassment, Retaliation, Post-Baby Job Rights, Race Discrimination

December 23, 2014

 

 

Here is the latest issue of “This & That” Tuesday. I hope you find it to be informative and useful.

 

Announcements

You can always check out my website for upcoming speaking engagements that are guaranteed to be of value to business owners or for a list of topics that I can speak on at Chambers, Clubs, Business Associations, etc. More details about the events, topics and Human Resources 4U, in general, can be found on my website.

 

Upcoming Events

HR4U 101 Workshop, January 14, 2015. This will include information regarding the new employment laws and regulations for 2015 including the new “Paid Sick Leave” law.

Here is a link with more detailed information on the Workshop.

 

For 2015, upcoming events

January 6, Webinar on How to Build a Salary Structure

http://www.trainhr.com/ and go to Webinar Search – by month

 

January 15, Labor Law Update 2015, La Verne Chamber of Commerce

Information at Human Resources 4U

 

January 21, Webinar on Coaching for Improved Performance

http://www.trainhr.com/ and go to Webinar Search – by month

 

January 27, Labor Law Update 2015, Irwindale Chamber of Commerce

Information at: Human Resources 4U

 

February 5-6, What Employers Need to Know About Human Resources, Seminar

http://www.trainhr.com/ and go to Seminar Search – by month

 

February 11, Webinar on Discipline

http://www.trainhr.com/ and go to Webinar Search – by month

 

February 12, Labor Law Update 2015, Glendora Chamber of Commerce

Information at Human Resources 4U

 

February 21, Labor Law Update 2015, Institute of Management Accountants, San Gabriel Valley

Information at: Human Resources 4U

 

Olympia Construction Pays $100,000 to Resolve Racial Harassment and Retaliation Lawsuit

Olympia Construction, Inc. of Albertville, AL will pay a total of $100,000 jointly to three former employees to resolve a race harassment and retaliation lawsuit filed by the EEOC. The EEOC's lawsuit charged that Olympia subjected Adrian Soles, Anthony Moorer and George McWilliams to racial slurs and intimidation. The agency also said that Olympia terminated the victims because they complained to the EEOC.

 

In addition to payment of the settlement amount, Olympia is required to take steps to prevent future harassment or retaliation, including ongoing training for all employees and management, reporting any complaints and the company's responses to the EEOC and posting a notice for all its employees about the settlement as well as contact information for reporting harassment, discrimination or retaliation.

 

Job Return Rights Post-Baby Depends on Type of Leave

An employee returning after a Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL), which is a job-protected leave that employers with five or more employees must offer, has a very strong right to return to the exact same job she had before going out on leave.

 

Unless the employer can clearly show the employee absolutely would have lost her job anyway, such as where her whole department was laid off, the employer must return her to her original position with the same hours, location, pay, benefits, etc.

 

Even where the employee’s temporary replacement has proven to be a far better employee, or where the company has realized it can do fine without the employee, the return rights remain the same.

 

The return rights after taking baby bonding leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and/or California Family Rights Act (CFRA) are slightly less stringent than those under the PDL laws.

 

After baby bonding leave, an employee is entitled to return to the same or an equivalent position. It is important to note that an equivalent position does not simply mean the employer must find some other job within the company that pays the same amount of money. An equivalent position means one that is virtually identical in terms of pay, benefits, working conditions and status, and that involves the same or substantially similar duties and responsibilities, and requires equivalent skill, effort, responsibility and authority.

 

On the other hand, it is also critical for employers to understand that employees have no greater rights upon returning from FMLA, CFRA and/or PDL than they had prior to going out on leave. Employees have no legal right to demand to return to work on a part-time schedule, or to any schedule or job other than what he or she previously had.

 

An employee who refuses to return to the previous job gives up all legal return rights, and from that point the employer may—but is not required to—negotiate a different job or hours just as you would with any employee who had not been on leave who requests such changes.

 

Employees might also request intermittent baby bonding leave in order to create a part-time schedule, for example, asking for baby bonding four hours each day or two days per week. The law, however, allows you to require that all baby bonding leave be taken in two-week minimum increments, except that twice an employee may request and take a shorter duration leave (that is, twice an employee could take just one week or one day, for example).

 

The law also allows you to require 30 days of notice for baby bonding time, meaning an employee whose child care provider is unavailable at the last minute cannot call in, demanding a protected baby bonding day to stay home with the child.

 

Factoids

• Replacing a low performing boss with a high performing boss is equivalent to hiring one more worker.
• Companies fail to make a good hiring decision for a manager 82% of the time
• 58% of managers say they didn’t receive any management training

 

Seven things to do to avoid an employment related lawsuit:

• Follow hiring best practices
• Maintain up-to-date policies/procedures
• Understand wage and hour compliance
• Ensure EEO compliance
• Understand the legal implications Social Media in the workplace
• Keep up to date with technology
• Manage leaves of absence and ADA issues

 

Quotes

"The harder you work, the luckier you get.”

~Gary Player~