Manage Risks while Returning to Work Are you a business owner who is nervous about reopening your business while COVID-19 remains present in our community? Do you want to keep your employees and customers safe but you are not sure exactly how to do so? Here's some good news: you have lots of resources at your disposal. First, familiarize yourself with guidelines provided by the Centers for Disease Control, OSHA, and the State of Idaho. Next, you should create your own set of guidelines ...
Win!
Can My Ex Get Out Of Child Support Through Bankruptcy?
One of my clients, who is owed past-due child support from her former husband, learned that he recently filed bankruptcy. She wondered whether he can discharge the past-due child support through that bankruptcy. The short answer is that he cannot get rid of his past-due support through bankruptcy. Indeed, the only way a person can get rid of past-due child support amounts of which I am aware is if the person to whom the support is owed agrees to forgive the past-due support, and that is ...
FMLA Follow Up
What Is Family Medical Leave Or Fmla Leave?
The Family Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) is a federal law that requires certain employers to give unpaid leave to employees who are experiencing certain family or medical issues. This post will address some common questions about FMLA and its usage. FMLA applies to all public employers (including state and local governments and schools), but only applies to private employers who employ approximately 50 or more employees. Thus, mom and pop shops aren’t subject to FMLA. The rationale here ...
Termination Of An Employee Due To Her “Irresistible Attraction”? Lawful.
The Iowa Supreme Court (yes Iowa, not Idaho – I do know the difference!) issued an interesting opinion on December 21, 2012 in the case of Nelson v. James H. Knight DDS P.C. Although the opinion only applies directly to Iowa law, it is an interesting case, and illustrates the oddities of employment law in our country. (For the record, this case may well have had the same outcome under Idaho law or federal law.) Melissa Nelson was a twenty year-old dental hygienist, who was hired by Dr. ...
Does A Company Violate Ada By Firing Someone Because She Is Heavy?
I recently attended an interesting presentation on the obesity epidemic, which used to be an American issue but is more and more becoming a global one. In Japan, for example, companies are required to measure their employees’ waistlines and companies face penalties if their workforce remains over the Japanese national guidelines (of 33.5 inches for men and 35.4 inches for women). This led me to wonder whether Japanese firms would try to fire (or decline to hire) people over those ...
What Does “At Will” Employment Really Mean?
Most folks in Idaho know that generally employees are hired under the “at will” employment rule. Theoretically, this means that an employer can fire someone for (the cliche) “good cause, bad cause, or no cause at all.” It also means that the employee can quit at any time and for any reason. However, lots of people misunderstand how this rule actually plays out in practice. Employers can run into many problems by cavalierly firing employees on the assumption that they are “at will.” And ...
What Is GINA?
The Genetic Information Nondisclosure Act of 1998 (“GINA”) deals with the use of genetic information in insurance and employment. Prior to GINA, there was a fear that, as doctors make increasing use of a patient’s genetic information in the diagnosis and treatment of disease, insurers and employers would make increasing use of such information for less legitimate reasons. The concern was that an insurer might learn that you have a genetic predisposition to cancer, for example, and on that ...
Can A Salaried Employee Get Overtime?
There a misconception that employees who are paid salary never have to be paid overtime. This is NOT true! The issue is complicated, but here’s some information for figuring out whether you are entitled to overtime, or whether you need to pay your employees overtime. The payment of wages and issues like overtime are governed by a federal law, the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, known as FLSA. FLSA governs the federal minimum wage, employment of youth, and overtime pay. In order ...