When railroad crossing lights flash and whistles blare, everyone knows to stop, look, and listen. Those signals represent a warning, not a permanent roadblock to proceeding. The same is often true of workplace controversies....more
11/5/2019
/ Corrective Actions ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Medical Leave ,
Retaliation ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Whistleblowers ,
Workplace Investigations
When dealing with a difficult adversary, sage advice suggests that one should consider “killing them with kindness.” That advice does not work out well, however, when healthcare managers are too kind when addressing (or...more
When a medical or mental condition prevents an employee from working at full capacity, the situation can quickly become complicated for everyone, including the employee, human resources leaders, and well-intentioned...more
2/13/2019
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Best Practices ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Interactive Process ,
Job Duties ,
Medical Leave ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Reasonable Accommodation
Even though the #MeToo movement has rightfully commanded overwhelming attention during the past year or so, supervisors cannot afford to lose sight of their substantial legal duties in complying with the Americans with...more
11/7/2018
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Caregivers ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Hospitals ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Job Duties ,
Leave of Absence ,
Medical Leave ,
Patient Safety ,
Physicians ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Sick Leave
Most people probably do not enjoy sitting in a doctor’s reception area with other coughing and sneezing people while waiting for an appointment, or devoting hours to getting a prescription refilled. The concept of...more
2/9/2018
/ Best Practices ,
COBRA ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Health Savings Accounts ,
OSHA ,
Physicians ,
Provider-Sponsored Health Plan (PSHP) ,
Telehealth ,
Telemedicine
It is always unpleasant for a healthcare entity or medical practice to have to sever ties with an employed physician, but it is sometimes necessary. Perhaps the physician has committed serious policy violations or lost an...more
11/6/2017
/ Continuity of Care ,
Documentation ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Health Care Providers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Hospitals ,
Medical Records ,
Notification Requirements ,
Physicians ,
Poor Job Performance ,
Severance Pay ,
Termination ,
Workplace Communication
Today’s workplace is fraught with legal traps for well-intentioned but unwary managers. But one issue stands out far above the rest as perhaps the single biggest employee challenge in today’s workplace: malingering employees...more
8/14/2017
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Confidential Communications ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Interactive Process ,
Leave of Absence ,
Medical Leave ,
Notification Requirements ,
Reasonable Accommodation
As a healthcare employer, it must be tempting to want to develop rigid workplace rules that will help newbie bosses reach conclusions almost automatically, especially where the best nurses or techs often become supervisors...more
2/10/2017
/ Criminal Background Checks ,
Dress Codes ,
Drug Testing ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Hospitals ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Willful Misconduct
In its continuing effort to press employers to accommodate workers under a variety of circumstances, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently sued a Massachusetts hospital over its flu shot policy. The June...more
As shifting privacy lines allow employers to reach further and further into employee conduct, it’s increasingly important that you know the legal limits. Many employees will question the legality of increased employer...more
How should an employer respond when it learns that an employee is planning a trip to West Africa to visit family? What if other employees refuse to come to work because they fear that the returning employee may have been...more
In August, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit affirmed dismissal of five purported class or collective actions brought against a number of healthcare systems and their affiliates. Although favorable for the...more
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) poses ongoing compliance challenges and attracts significant attention from plaintiffs' lawyers and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The resulting litigation...more
In recent years, many high-profile workplace-harassment lawsuits have grabbed headlines, complete with lewd and salacious allegations. Sexual harassment is indeed a form of gender discrimination and courts have issued many...more