Kara Craig, Author at Vigilant

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Apr 02 2024
Leave LawsOregonWebinar

WEBINAR 5/15: Changes to Oregon Family Leave Act & Paid Leave Oregon

                    Significant changes to OFLA and PLO take effect on 7/1/24. These changes aim to simplify leave administration for Oregon employers by addressing overlaps between the two laws. QUESTIONS WE’LL COVER What types of leave are available under the “new” OFLA? How has PLO changed? How…

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Feb 09 2024
Disability

Q&A: Evaluate request for permanent remote work under ADA

Question: During the pandemic, we allowed some employees to work from home on a case-by-case basis. We brought everyone back to the office gradually and our policy now requires all administrative personnel to work onsite. One of our admin employees who worked remotely has requested to work from home permanently due to a chronic health…

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Jan 29 2024
Labor RelationsTermination & ResignationWage and Hour

Q&A: Employees can discuss wages with each other

Question: Two of our employees accessed confidential payroll files and now are loudly complaining they are the lowest-paid employees in the company. Their manager is upset and wants to fire them for breach of trust, disrupting our business operations, and hurting morale. The whole department is demanding a raise. What can we do here? Answer:…

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Jan 15 2024
Harassment & Discrimination

Q&A: Religious beliefs don’t have to be mainstream to be protected

Question: An employee recently asked to be permanently exempted from working overtime on Saturdays, which is a requirement that applies to all production workers. He told me that Saturday is a holy day based on his own personal religious beliefs, but he’s not part of any organized congregation. Do we have to go through the…

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Dec 22 2023
Uncategorized

No undue hardship for religious accommodation request

A federal district court in Arizona recently barred an employer from using the undue hardship defense at trial to justify its denial of an employee’s request for time off due to his religious beliefs. The employee requested 1.5 unpaid days off to attend a 4-day Elders Training related to his Jehovah’s Witness faith. The employer…

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Dec 07 2023
DisabilitySafety and Health

Employee’s service dog posed direct threat to safety at hospital

The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that a hospital did not have to allow a nursing student to bring a service dog to work under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) because the accommodation created a direct threat to health and safety. A nursing student was assigned to work at the hospital…

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Nov 16 2023
Harassment & DiscriminationPrivacy & ConfidentialityQ&A

Q&A: Internal management communications aren’t confidential

Question: For weeks our management team has been trading internal emails discussing why we need to terminate an employee who isn’t meeting performance standards. In the most recent email thread, one manager said that he wants to move more quickly to fire the employee because the employee reported workplace harassment a few days ago and…

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Sep 21 2023
Leave LawsWage and Hour

Q&A: May need to adjust workload during FMLA leave

Q&A: May need to adjust workload during FMLA leave Question: We granted intermittent leave to a full-time employee under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). They normally work five days a week and expect to miss work about one day a week for the next six months. The employee says they can’t meet…

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Jul 20 2023
Q&A

Q&A: Archiving old policies and handbooks

Question: We just updated our employee handbook and distributed it to employees. Is there any reason to retain the prior version? Answer: Yes! HR should save a copy of every handbook or policy that is distributed to employees and clearly note the effective dates of each version. The company may be required to produce this…

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Jul 06 2023
Q&AWage and Hour

Q&A: Don’t ignore off-the-clock work

Question: We have a full-time, hourly employee who occasionally logs on to our network from his home computer after he’s left the office for the day. His supervisor has received emails from him after work hours but doesn’t respond to them until the next day. A few months ago, we told the employee he isn’t…

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Jun 15 2023
Harassment & DiscriminationQ&A

Q&A: Offensive music in workplace subject to anti-harassment policy

Question: A new employee complained about the “vulgar” lyrics in songs playing on the warehouse radio. The shift supervisor usually chooses a local radio station, and nobody has a problem with it. Do we really have to monitor the content of background music we provide to employees to help make the day go faster? Answer:…

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Apr 20 2023
Privacy & ConfidentialitySafety and HealthWage and Hour

Q&A: Set expectations for social media use to protect confidentiality

Question: I just found out that employees are using their personal cell phones at work to snap and share pictures, in response to randomly timed daily prompts from an app called “BeReal.” Our policy prohibits cell phone use during work time unless it’s necessary for the job. Our manufacturing employees are only allowed to use…

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