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Posts in Employment Law
Does Age Matter in Employment Decisions?

When an employer is making hiring decisions, an employer generally should not take age into account. However, the only legal protections that exist are designed to prevent discrimination against older workers. There is no law that prohibits an employer from refusing to hire people on the basis of the fact that the employer believes that the person is too young. There is a law prohibiting an employer from refusing to hire someone on the basis that he is too old.

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Does My Employer Have to Pay For My Time Donning Safety Gear?

Employees are supposed to be paid for their time doing work activities. If employers don't pay, workers can take action. A group of employees from Tyson did just that: they filed a class action lawsuit because their employer was not paying for their time putting safety gear on and taking it off. Safety News Alert reported on the lawsuit, which ended up getting all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Employment LawScott Rothman
How Do I Know if I Got Fired Due to Discrimination?

Sometimes, it can be difficult to determine if you were fired due to discrimination or not. Some of the red flags that you should look for include a failure of the employer to follow written or implied promises made to you, disciplinary action or a termination despite no wrongdoing on your part, discriminatory statements, other terminations of people of protected classes, a pattern of discrimination, a termination following a specific interaction with your employer,

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Employment LawScott Rothman
Defining Disparate Impact Discrimination

Disparate impact discrimination usually starts when there is a job requirement established by an employer. The job requirement may appear to be neutral on its face. However, it ends up disqualifying more people of a protected class, such as more people of a given race or a given religion. For example, in an area where fewer minorities have a college education, a job requirement mandating a college degree could be considered disparate impact discrimination.

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Employment LawScott Rothman
Can an Employer Enforce a Non-Compete Agreement?

While non-competes are common, they are also difficult to enforce in many circumstances. Non-compete agreements can sometimes be overly restrictive and can impede a person's ability to make a living. This type of agreement is not going to be enforced because it is considered bad public policy and an unlawful restraint on trade to make it effectively impossible for someone to earn a living in his or her chosen profession.

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How to Prove Age Discrimination

Age discrimination is unlawful under the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act. Employers are not permitted to discriminate against older employees in any of the terms or conditions of employment. This means employers cannot refuse to hire you, refuse to promote you, or force you to retire or take a demotion as a result of your age. Employers also cannot provide different benefits or job perks to workers based on their age.

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What Compensation is Available in a Quid Pro Quo Harassment Case?

Quid pro quo harassment occurs in situations where any of the terms and conditions of your job are conditioned upon agreeing to sexual favors or sexual behaviors.  In some cases, it is easy to provide quid pro quo harassment occurred if an overt offer of job benefits or job advancement is made. In other circumstances, bosses or managers may be more subtle in their suggestions that sexual behavior can help you to advance.

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Employment LawScott Rothman
When Does Behavior Cross the Line into Sexual Harassment?

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission defines sexual harassment as a “ form of sex discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.” Behaviors of an alleged harasser must meet certain criteria in order to be considered unlawful harassment. If a co-worker or supervisor simply asks you on a date, for example, this may not be considered harassing behavior that is actionable. Sometimes harassment is clearly occurring, but in other situations it is a more difficult judgement call to determine whether harassment happened or not.

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Employment LawScott Rothman
What are the New Rules for Overtime Pay?

In May, the Department of Labor instituted new overtime rules by making a change to the definition of “exempt.” Exempt workers are employees who generally are not entitled to receive overtime time. If a worker is classified as an exempt employee, he does not get paid any extra money for hours over 40 per hour. If a worker is not exempt, on the other hand, he generally can get paid time-and-a-half for the extra hours that he works over normal business hours.

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Employment LawScott Rothman
Signs You Need to Talk to a Sexual Harassment Attorney

The creation of an unreasonably unpleasant working environment on the basis of any unwanted sexual behaviors, including by co-workers and peers, could potentially be unlawful and the company could be held responsible if there were no policies in place to prevent the behavior and if no system was set up to make certain that this type of behavior could be reported.

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Employment LawScott Rothman