My Current State: 

Oregon Religious Discrimination

Tuesday, February 17th, 2009
Posted by Tamara
Many Oregon employees wonder, are employees allowed to practice religion in the workplace? For example, can Muslim workers take prayer breaks? The answer to both questions is yes, unless the religious practices create hardship for the employer.

The federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, specifically Title VII, ... continue reading

Texas Religious Discrimination

Friday, February 13th, 2009
Posted by Tamara
Are Muslim employees in Texas permitted to take prayer breaks at work? Yes, in most cases, they are.

According to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, employers are prohibited from discrimination against employees due to religion, race, color, national origin and sex. This is ... continue reading

Maryland Employment at Will

Wednesday, February 11th, 2009
Posted by Tamara
Most employers realize that terminating an employee without warning is bad for company morale and bad for productivity. Employees, too, usually give notice when leaving a job, two weeks notice is customary.

Knowing this, many workers are concerned with “Employment at Will” and how it is applied ... continue reading

Arkansas Holiday Pay

Thursday, February 5th, 2009
Posted by Tamara
What are the legal requirements regarding holiday pay. Are there any Arkansas or federal laws that require companies to offer paid holidays? Must companies pay a premium rate when employees work on a holiday?

No laws, at either the national or the state level, mandate either paid ... continue reading

Connecticut Holiday Pay

Wednesday, February 4th, 2009
Posted by Tamara
The holiday season usually prompts questions about just what is meant by “holiday pay” in Connecticut.

One of the most common questions is: “Do employees have the legal right to get additional pay for working on a holiday?” Another typical question is: “Must employers give their workers ... continue reading

Delaware Holiday Pay

Sunday, February 1st, 2009
Posted by Tamara
Employees coming off the holiday season may not realize it, but employers in Delaware are not obligated to offer paid holidays.  

For that matter, employers are not mandated to pay their workers extra, if the employees work on holidays.

There is neither a federal ... continue reading

Mississippi Holiday Pay

Wednesday, January 28th, 2009
Posted by Tamara
Here are two questions that all employers, workers and Human Resources professionals should be able to answer:

“Are Mississippi employers mandated to pay their employees premium pay rates when they work on holidays?”

“Are companies required to give their workers paid holidays off?”

... continue reading

Delaware Sick Pay

Friday, January 23rd, 2009
Posted by Tamara
Paid sick time is a benefit offered by Delaware employers at their own discretion. There is no Delaware law which requires companies to pay workers for sick time. In fact, there is no state or federal law regarding paid sick time.

Ten states require companies to pay ... continue reading

Maine Holiday Pay

Wednesday, December 10th, 2008
Posted by Tamara
Gary works 47 hours during a week with a paid holiday. He didn’t work on the holiday, but insists he should receive “holiday pay” or overtime for the holiday and overtime for the additional 7 hours. His employer insists he only gets 7 hours of overtime and 48 hours ... continue reading

Light Duty in Massachusetts

Thursday, November 27th, 2008
Posted by Tamara
When assigning an employee to a light duty position, employers must apply the protocol evenly and fairly. For example, a company can’t provide light duty positions to female workers, but deny them to male workers. Doing so would constitute discrimination and violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act ... continue reading

New Jersey Payday

Wednesday, November 26th, 2008
Posted by Tamara
Under New Jersey state minimum wage law and federal minimum wage law, it is illegal for a company not to pay workers on the established payday. The employer may set any payday it wishes, but once the payday is set, it must be honored.

Failure of an ... continue reading

North Dakota Discrimination

Thursday, November 20th, 2008
Posted by Tamara
Employees are protected from discrimination based on color, race, sex, religion and country of origin by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 protects disabled workers, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 prevents discrimination against persons over ... continue reading

Hawaii Polygraph

Wednesday, November 12th, 2008
Posted by Tamara
Many Hawaii employees are curious about the federal law concerning polygraph tests for employment.

According to the federal Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA), most private employers are prohibited from administering polygraphs for pre-employment screening or after a worker is hired. Hawaii follows the federal law, so in ... continue reading

Mississippi Smoking Breaks

Friday, November 7th, 2008
Posted by Tamara
Most employers allow employees a 30 minute lunch break and two 15 minute breaks during the workday. Federal law doesn’t mandate employee breaks, nor does Mississippi state law. An employer is not legally required to give workers any breaks at all. In fact, a company is perfectly within their ... continue reading

California Sex Discrimination and Height

Sunday, October 26th, 2008
Posted by Tamara
Height limits as a job requirement are most often illegal. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prevents discrimination against workers due to their race, religion, sex, color and national origin. Aspects of employment covered by Title VII include interviewing, hiring, termination, benefits, compensation and working environment. ... continue reading

Oregon Hostile Work Environment and Disability

Saturday, October 25th, 2008
Posted by Tamara
Under federal law, Oregon employers are prohibited from discriminating against an employee because of his or her race, color, national origin, sex or religion. Federal law, specifically the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), also prevents discrimination against workers with disabilities. This means that a company cannot use ... continue reading

Hawaii Sex Discrimination and Height

Thursday, October 23rd, 2008
Posted by Tamara
Employees often ask, “Can an employer legally set a minimum height or weight as a requirement for a job?”  

According to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, any policy that limits employment opportunities for a protected group is probably illegal. Title VII prohibits ... continue reading

Age Discrimination in Texas

Monday, October 20th, 2008
Posted by Tamara
Consider a Texas employer who is tired of hiring young people who turn out to be immature workers, so he establishes a policy to only hire people over the age of 25. Several employees cry foul, claiming the policy is age discrimination.  

In Texas, setting a ... continue reading

Iowa ADA

Wednesday, October 15th, 2008
Posted by Tamara
Prior the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), employers were not required to make any adjustments for a disabled worker. Since the law passed, employers must make “reasonable accommodations” for a worker with disabilities, as long as doing so doesn’t create undue hardship on the ... continue reading

Disciplinary Notices in North Dakota

Wednesday, October 8th, 2008
Posted by Tamara
When a North Dakota employee needs to be disciplined, a written warning often has more impact than a verbal one. The written warning also serves as proof for the employer that the problem was discussed.

There is no federal or state law that regulates disciplinary warnings, so ... continue reading

New Hampshire ADA

Wednesday, October 8th, 2008
Posted by Tamara
According to federal law, when disabled workers request an adjustment in the workplace to allow them to do their job, the New Hampshire employer must comply–as long as the request is reasonable. This law is the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that was passed in 1990. Under this law, ... continue reading

Religious Discrimination in Utah

Monday, October 6th, 2008
Posted by Tamara
Utah employers are required by federal law to make “reasonable accommodations” for a worker’s “sincerely held” religious beliefs. The law, specifically Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, prohibits discrimination against religion, race, color, sex and country of origin. All employment areas are covered under Title VII, ... continue reading

Florida Confidential Files

Monday, September 8th, 2008
Posted by Tamara
To protect an employee’s personal information, Florida uses a “two-lock system.” Workers are curious how this system works. Are personnel files kept in a locked filing cabinet in a locked storage room?

The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990) and the HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and ... continue reading

Oregon Workplace Violence

Thursday, August 7th, 2008
Posted by Tamara
One of the most tragic incidents involving violence in the workplace was the Virginia Tech Massacre on April 16, 2007.

The tragedy began with a student arming himself and killing two students in their dorm. Later he chained a campus building shut and proceeded to kill 32 ... continue reading

Missouri Workplace Violence

Tuesday, August 5th, 2008
Posted by Tamara

According the Bureau of Labor of Labor Statistics (BLS), violence in the workplace is decreasing. In 2005, 792 assaults and violent acts resulted in death. In 2006, that number dropped about 5 per cent to 754.

With the recent, highly publicized tragedies, it’s hard to ... continue reading

Alaska Travel Time and FLSA

Friday, August 1st, 2008
Posted by Tamara
Does an employee in Alaska get paid for travel between job sites during the day? Is an Alaska worker entitled to paid travel time from home to the first job site?     

In Alaska, and on the federal level, the answers to those questions can be ... continue reading

South Carolina Discrimination

Monday, June 30th, 2008
Posted by Tamara
There is no federal or state law in South Carolina prohibiting an employer from discriminating against an employee based on his or her sexual orientation. However, most Human Resources professionals discourage the practice.   There are many private businesses and non-profit agencies in the country that have written policies ... continue reading

Federal Discrimination

Tuesday, June 17th, 2008
Posted by Tamara
Many HR professionals agree that discrimination based on sexual orientation is a bad idea. However,   there is no Alabama law, or federal law that prohibits job discrimination based on a person’s sexual orientation. This could change in the near future with the passage of ENDA by Congress. Even ... continue reading

Montana Payday

Saturday, June 14th, 2008
Posted by Tamara
In Montana, and most other states in the nation, an employer has the right to determine the payday for her employees, under state and federal law. However, it is against the law in Montana and most other states not to pay employees on the date.

For example, ... continue reading

Arizona Polygraph

Friday, May 23rd, 2008
Posted by Tamara
Employees in Arizona should be aware that it is illegal for most employers to use polygraphs to screen job applicants.

Arizona has no state law, which addresses this issue, so federal law prevails.   The same law also covers the use of polygraphs for current employees.   ... continue reading