United States: Avoiding Liability For Retaliation Claims: Issue Spotting In Real Time

Introduction
Retaliation lawsuits are the most common claims brought against employers before governmental agencies and are increasing in frequency in the civil court system. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), in 2013, a retaliation claim was made in 41.1% of all charges submitted to the EEOC. This is more than discrimination based on race and more than discrimination based on disability. Even more concerning is the consistent uptick in retaliation allegations. Retaliation claims […]

By | December 4th, 2014 ||

Canada: "Zero Tolerance", Automatic Suspension Approach To Safety Violations Criticized, Written Warning Substituted

Employers are increasingly taking a “zero tolerance” approach in which a minimum level of discipline – whether a suspension or dismissal – is imposed for certain serious safety violations. In a recent case, an arbitrator criticized the approach as unfair to the employee.

Plant security, conducting a random vehicle search as the employee left the premises, found a partially-consumed bottle of flavoured vodka beneath some camping equipment in the trunk of the vehicle.  The employee […]

By | December 2nd, 2014 ||

United States: California Issues Paid Sick Leave Poster

Paid Sick Leave becomes mandatory in California on July 1, 2015. We’ve discussed the general requirements here andhere. The law requires that employers display a poster stating that:

Employees are entitled to accrue, request, and use paid sick days;
The number of sick days provided to employees;
The terms for using the sick days; and
Retaliation or discrimination against employee who request or use paid sick days is prohibited and employees can complain of that conduct to the Labor Commissioner.

An […]

By | December 2nd, 2014 ||