It may seem like an easy decision to fire an employee who is disruptive at work, shows up late or not at all, and keeps coworkers on edge all the time. It’s also an easy decision for an employer to go to great lengths to hold on to an employee who is talented, creative, passionate, and productive. So how should employers handle employees who are both troublesome and valuable?

That’s the dilemma posed by some employees with bipolar disorder, a condition characterized by moods that go from extremely good to exceptionally bad. Individuals with bipolar disorder are sometimes disciplinary nightmares. But employers that have an understanding of the condition are in a better position to avoid the problems and take advantage of the strengths such employees bring to the workplace.

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As peak vacation season nears and employees begin jockeying with coworkers to take off the days and weeks they want, employers may be wondering if their time-off policies are fair, simple, and effective or if they complicate work schedules unnecessarily.

What’s more important — logging a specified number of hours every weekday, or producing an impressive amount of work on a regular basis?

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by Susan M. Webman, Fortney & Scott, LLC

For a number of years, the issue of whether the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) created a claim for hostile work environment based on membership in the uniformed services, a right not definitively named in the Act, has been raised in the trial courts. While divided, courts for the most part interpreted the statute to benefit protected service members, which is the guidance provided in the Act, and so found that there was such a protection in the statute. In addition, several circuit courts assumed, without deciding, that USERRA does provide for such a claim but disposed of the claim on other grounds.

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The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments regarding a challenge to the massive health care reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), enacted in March 2010. The Court revealed how important it considers this case by hearing around six hours of oral arguments over the span of three days, when it usually schedules only an hour for oral arguments.

Three Days of Arguments
The biggest issue the Court had to tackle concerned the PPACA’s individual mandate, which beginning in 2014 will require most individuals to obtain health insurance or pay a fine. However, the justices heard oral arguments concerning three other PPACA-related issues:

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Despite a trend toward employers embracing flexibility in the workplace as a way to improve work-life balance, most employers have expectations related to their employees’ schedules. In some workplaces, rigid schedules aren’t necessary as long as the work gets done. In others, shifts are firm and when someone needs time off, a request is made through channels, it’s granted or denied, and the answer is final.

But what if a time-off request intersects with religion? Is an employer obligated to stray from normal policy in an effort to grant a request? With Good Friday, Easter, and Passover occurring this week, employers may be facing those questions.

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The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has published new guidance addressing whether an employer violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by requiring a high-school diploma for a job. The guidance was issued in response to an informal discussion letter in which the agency stated that the requirement may violate the ADA if (1) it screens out individuals who cannot obtain a diploma because of a learning disability and (2) the employer can’t demonstrate that the requirement is job-related and consistent with business necessity.

Mastering HR Report: Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

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It’s March — the culmination of a long and productive season for the country’s top college basketball teams. It’s also the beginning of a less productive season in the workplace.

March Madness may serve to sharpen the focus of the athletes playing in the college championship tournament, but the Big Dance often has the opposite effect on employees. Projects and deadlines play second string to tournament brackets and office pools.

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The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) allows leave to be taken “intermittently” in certain situations. Intermittent leave often presents both logistical and employee relations challenges for employers, which must minimize the effect of intermittent leave on operations and address possible employee abuse while ensuring legal compliance. This article will discuss intermittent FMLA dilemmas and offer suggestions about how to best approach them.

FMLA Complete Compliance

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Ever been caught off guard by a job interview question? Most people have because many employers have resorted to asking applicants questions that could be considered offbeat or even off the wall.

Thomas Edison reportedly had a list of surprising queries he used when interviewing job applicants. Among his stumpers, as reported on the Mental Floss website: Continue Reading »

by Mark I. Schickman

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) lists as one of its purposes the creation of a uniform national labor policy. That might have been the thought nearly 80 years ago when the NLRA was enacted, but it is the furthest thing from the truth today — as state-to-state conflicts in employment philosophy have become more and more pronounced.

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