The WARN Act is one of those areas that everybody needs a refresher course in now and again. Most HR officers (and frankly many HR lawyers) deal with it infrequently at best. To the rescue comes Diane M. Pfadenhauer or Strategic HR Lawyer Blog, and her article: "BEYOND THE WARN NOTICE: GETTING TO THE TIPPING POINT AND BEYOND"
I commend it to your reading.As more companies adopt workplace models in which employees work from home, it has become more important for managers to learn to communicate and supervise, as well as foster teamwork among employees who work remotely, without the benefit of frequent face-to-face contact in a regular office setting.
Here is a good article from the Wall Street Journal addressing the topic.
Hat tip to Home Office Lawyer Blog for the link.A person's skin color, gender, national origin, age and creed are never an acceptable cause for being fired; if this occurs, it may be wrongful termination.
Employers are prohibited from discriminating against any employee, or applicant for employment, because of his/her sex in connection with hiring, termination, promotion, demotion, compensation, job training, job placement, discipline or any other term, condition, or privilege of employment.
Employers are further prohibited from making employment decisions based on gender stereotypes or assumptions about an individual's abilities, traits, or performance on the basis of sex.
Race/National Origin discrimination involves receiving less favorable treatment in the workplace because of one's actual or perceived racial group, national origin or race-based personal characteristics (such as skin color or facial features). Employers are prohibited from discriminating against any employee, or applicant for employment, because of his/her race in connection with hiring, termination, promotion, demotion, compensation, job training, job placement, discipline or any other term, condition, or privilege of employment. Race discrimination may also include receiving less favorable treatment because of one's marriage or other association with an individual of a particular race or color.
The laws prohibiting race discrimination in the workplace apply regardless of whether the discrimination is directed at Whites, Blacks, Asians, Latin Americans, Native Americans, multi-racial individuals, or persons of any other race, color, or ethnicity.
Individuals who are 40 years of age or older are protected from discrimination in the workplace based on age. Employers are prohibited from discriminating against any employee, or applicant for employment, because of his/her age in connection with hiring, termination, promotion, demotion, compensation, job training, job placement, discipline or any other term, condition, or privilege of employment.
Most employers believe that if they set up an at-will system and police it vigorously they will be safe from lawsuits. However, despite almost universal acceptance of at-will relationships in the United States, employment litigation is on the rise and is now a large percentage of cases on court dockets. A recent article by Ellen Dannin gives thoughtful consideration to the at-will doctrine and whether it still serves a useful purpose.
In her article, she notes that dissatisfaction with at-will doctrine has led courts and legislatures to develop many common law contract, tort doctrines and statutory exceptions, leading to greater complexity and uncertainty. By now most bad reasons for firing workers have been made illegal, so an at-will regime is limited to firing workers for a good reason or no reason. It also seems unlikely that most employers want to fire their employees for no reason, because, by definition, this means firing good employees. Thus the so-called "at will" doctrine is reduced to one in name only. Her article asks what is the benefit to employers of this strategy. . . and what is the alternative.
Source: LaborProf Blog
Working America blog has announced its winners in its "My Bad Boss" contest. The winner? A boss that through out an employee's leave paperwork, causing him to lose out on any pay for days missed due to cancer treatment. Now that is bad.
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