Pittsburgh Employment Law Blog

Many companies have sick leave policies established so that employees can take off when they're contagious but many of these also try to address the possibility that some workers might try to get off when they aren't actually sick. This is a fine line for employers to walk because of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). We know that you might have some questions about what you can and can't do, especially with the recent concerns about people passing germs to others.

One important thing to remember is that an employee who is sick can endanger everyone they work with, as well as your clients. For this reason alone, it's usually best to err on the side of caution and let the person have time off so they don't get everyone else sick.

Employers have to ensure they're paying their employees the proper amounts. One area that often causes some issues is when you have an employee available on-call. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) covers what should happen with these employees. It's imperative that you accurately determine whether employees who are on-call should be paid for those hours or not.

In the most basic sense, the FLSA terms require employees to be paid for on-call hours if they aren't free to go about their daily personal business when they're on call. Things like just having to carry a phone or pager wouldn't necessarily prevent them from doing their own personal duties but having to answer client or employer calls during the on-call hours could impeded on their ability to handle personal tasks.

Part of being able to protect your business from litigation is having staff members who can handle complaints and situations in an appropriate manner. This training works in conjunction with properly written policies that outline what's allowed at your business and how specific situations will be handled.

While it might not be possible for you to know everything that happens in your company, you need to make it clear which situations do require notifications. This might include things like claims of discrimination or harassment. Complaints from irate customers might be another issue that you want to know about. Making the situations you need to know about clear makes it easier for everyone to do their jobs.

The policies you set for your company have to be in the business' best interests, but there are legal limits to what you can set. You must ensure that the guidelines you set don't go against any employee rights laws. Preventing your company from having to face legal action from a disgruntled employee is a big undertaking, but we are here to help you through the process.

One thing that can help you to avoid issues is to put all your policies in a written employee handbook. This gives everyone a place to turn when they need guidance about how to handle a situation. It also helps protect the company since the policies are clearly relayed in writing instead of someone being able to misconstrue the policies.