PER Human Resources – September 2019

September 2019

Want to know the latest buzz in the HR arena? Professional Employer Resources has a world of information in our newsletter. Not only is it fun, it’s resourceful! Including, important changes to federal
and state employment practices.

Eighty five percent (85%) of all employment lawsuits can be prevented!

Untangling an Employee’s Web of Deception

HR Stories From The Front Lines*

What may seem like an employee’s far-fetched conspiracy theory that a manager is out to sabotage the employee is not a conspiracy theory at all. This is what happened when a hotel manager prompted a guest
to give a negative review about one employee’s performance.*

Read on
to learn about how one HR Director uncovered and dealt with the manager’s deception.

(*These incidents really happened; but names and other details have been changed.)

Stay Up to Date on the Latest Employment Legal Updates

STATE UPDATES

Do you have an HR question keeping you up at night? The following question was submitted to our HR Professionals in the past month …

Question #1

In a non-unionized workplace, does federal law permit an employer to prevent employees from talking about their wages? Would amending the employee handbook to prohibit the discussion of wages/salary be
the correct approach?

Question #2

The drug test came back for our newly hired employee. It was positive for marijuana. Can we fire him?
View the Answer

Brain Teaser

Your employee is an opiate addict and has been since you hired him (so much for your pre-employment screening and interview process!). His name is Oscar the Opiate Addict. He’s your in-house IT network
administrator. Unbeknownst to you, Oscar the Opiate Addict has participated in a physician-supervised, medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for the addiction since 2015. Last month, Oscar the Opiate Addict
took two weeks of his vacation time and voluntarily admitted himself to an inpatient treatment facility to eliminate the need for MAT. He successfully completed the inpatient treatment and returned to
work.

Upon his return to work, you learned that Oscar the Opiate Addict spent his vacation in a treatment program for Opiate addiction. Your understanding of the Americans with Disabilities Act is that a “recovered”
addict is no longer “disabled” under federal law nor under the law of your state. After discussing with senior management, everyone agrees: it is too risky to have an Opiate addict (even if “recovered”)
serving as the IT network administrator. After all, IT systems are the backbone of the company. Since he is no longer “disabled”, you terminate Oscar. All employees (including Oscar) are “at will”, of
course, and it says so in your employee handbook. Choose the best answer.

You just avoided a huge potential problem. You terminated Oscar the Opiate Addict when he’s not protected by the ADA. If you waited, he might start using opiates again, enter into a recover program, and
you’d be stuck. At that point, Oscar would be covered and protected by the ADA again.
You just screwed up big time. Once an addict, always an addict and protected by the ADA.

View the answer (Opens in a new window)
.

This information is provided by ePlace Solutions, Inc. which is solely responsible for its content. ePlace Solutions, Inc. is not engaged in rendering legal or other professional services. Federal and
state laws are more complex than presented here. This information is simplified for the sake of brevity and is not a substitute for legal advice. ePlace Solutions, Inc. disclaims any liability, loss or
risk incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents of this information.

PER Human Resources – September 2019

PER Human Resources – September 2019

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