Question: We require all new hires to pass a pre-employment drug test. Do we have to use the same process we use for our random, reasonable suspicion, and post-accident drug testing and send positive test results to a medical review officer (MRO)? Or, can we simply ask potential new hires for a list of medications they have been prescribed?
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Question: I have a production employee who says that standing for eight hours a day is causing him pain. He doesn’t want to go on any type of leave and says he’d rather just suffer through it. We are covered by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). What do I do?
Question: To avoid workplace injuries, we require all employees to be 100-percent healed without any medical restrictions before they return to work after an illness or injury. We think this is an important policy to protect employee safety, but recently heard it might be unlawful discrimination. Is it?
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Question: We have approximately 10 employees in one department performing the same job, with 6 working rotating shifts and the other 4 working only on the day shift. One of the employees assigned to the rotating shift brought in a doctor’s note saying he can only work on the day shift due to a medical condition. Do we have to grant his request?
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ADA accommodation may require showing rather than telling An employee in Illinois will move forward to a jury trial on her disability discrimination claim alleging that her employer failed to provide a reasonable accommodation for her learning disability. Although supervisors told her how to complete her timesheets, the employee claims that…
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Question: We recently instituted a no-beard policy to ensure that men can securely wear their required safety masks. However, one of our Muslim employees refused, citing the Prophet Muhammad. I’ve studied the Quran, and I know that it doesn’t require beards. Can we discipline or fire him for not shaving?
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Question: We have an employee who took 12 weeks of FMLA leave because of her own serious health condition. Her leave is now expired but she still isn’t able to return to work. Can we terminate her employment since she doesn’t have any FMLA leave left?
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Question: One of our new employees is pregnant and has started taking frequent breaks for drinks, snacks, and using the bathroom. She is also sitting down on the job a lot. Do we have to allow this?
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Question: We are a family friendly company and would like to offer 2 weeks of paid leave to new fathers and 6 weeks of paid leave to new mothers. Are we allowed to do this?
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Finding no evidence of discrimination under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a railroad terminated a train engineer because of his poor attendance, not his diagnosed sleep disorder. Although this case was brought under FEHA, the analysis was the same as it…
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