Your Questions and Our Responses
October 15, 2008
FMLA leave and exempt employees
Question: We have an exempt employee who is undergoing weekly medical treatment causing him to miss one-half of one day of work per week. We expect the treatment to continue for up to sixteen weeks and have designated the missed time as unpaid FMLA leave. The employee's usual work week is 50 hours. Do we destroy his exempt status by paying him for only four and one half days of work - 45 hours? Answer...
September 15, 2008
I-9 Forms
Question: We have been using the new I-9 forms since January 2008. At a recent meeting of human resources managers, one group member stated that her company required ALL employees to complete the new I-9 forms because the "identity documents" shown by the employee when hired may no longer be acceptable. My sense is that this is unnecessary. Am I correct? Answer...
August 15, 2008
Accessing Employee E-Mails
Question: We suspect that one of our employees has been disseminating inappropriate e-mails to people outside the company and would like to access his workplace e-mail database. Can we do this without violating his privacy rights? We are a Massachusetts employer. Answer...
July 15, 2008
Personnel Record Requests
Question: We recently received a request from a former employee for a copy of her personnel file. We keep any and all employment-related documents in employee files but want to know what the law requires us to do. Please advise. Answer...
June 15, 2008
Harassment v. Illegal Harassment
Question: I own a small company (ten employees and three supervisors). Recently, an employee reported to me that he was being “harassed” by his supervisor and that he was thinking of talking to a lawyer about it. He indicated that his supervisor unfairly criticized him for another employee’s mistake, that he has given this employee more difficult assignments than his co-workers (who are also male) and that he heard the supervisor use foul language. I am concerned that an employee feels picked on but very troubled by his use of the term “harassment” and the thought of the employee going to a lawyer. Should I be concerned? Answer...
May 15, 2008
Use of Vacation, Sick or Personal Time During Family/Medical Leave
Question: I am the HR manager for a Massachusetts company with about 100 employees. Our medical leave policy mirrors the federal Family Medical Leave Act. Our FML policy requires employees to use any accumulated vacation and personal time during the course of an employee’s family/medical leave. An employee recently informed me that she is expecting a baby and will be taking medical leave after the baby is born. She has indicated that she does not want to use her accumulated vacation time while on family/medical leave because she wants to have it available after her return to work in case she needs it for child care purposes. We do not want to deviate from our company policy. Can you provide some guidance? Answer...
April 15, 2008
Complying with both State and Federal Wage and Hour Laws
Question: My business partner and I have decided to open a bistro which will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. Because some employees may initially work more than forty hours per week I am concerned with overtime law compliance. I understand that the Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General enforces overtime laws and I called their hotline but was informed that Massachusetts’ overtime law specifically exempts restaurants from the overtime pay requirements. I am still uncomfortable, however, because I know that friends in the industry pay their staff time and one-half for overtime. Can you provide some guidance? Answer...
March 15, 2008
Tip Pooling/Service Charges
Question: I own a restaurant that also caters functions and large group affairs. Our final invoice for large groups includes a “service fee” of 20%, of which 3% is retained by management to help defray administrative costs and the remaining 17% is distributed to the wait staff and other service employees. Is this practice legal? Do you recommend another practice? Answer...
February 15, 2008
Terminating an Employee
Question: We are a young company with approximately 15 employees. For the first time, we are faced with an employee – who has been with us less than a year – with substantial performance problems. We have made the decision to terminate the employee but want to make sure we do so the right way, in both a business and legal sense. Can you provide some general guidance? Answer...
January 15, 2008
Telecommuting Employees
Question: Our company headquartered in Massachusetts has over 100 employees. A small number of our employees (currently four) work remotely from their homes. We would like to maintain a flexible work environment which includes part-time schedules, flex-time and telecommuting opportunities, depending, of course on business needs. Should we adopt a formal telecommuting policy? Answer...
