Human Resource Blog

This is probably a violation of the federal ADA, the Americans with Disabilities Act. The ADA prohibits employers from making employment decisions including hiring, firing and demotion based on an employees disability, or a perceived disability. The key word here is perceived. The employer seems to be afraid that the employee is not healthy (which may be true) and is therefore taking actions against him — which is not legal, as long as the employee is performing up to standards.

This employee would be justified in contacting the federal EEOC, which enforces this law, at www.eeoc.gov.

Yes, this is completely true, legal, ethical and above-board. It does not even violate any best practice in HR. An employer can make any day they like mandatory. There is no federal or state law in the US that employers have to give workers holidays off, with or without pay. An employer can even terminate any worker who does not show up on the holiday.

Many employees will scream that this is unfair. They want to enjoy the holiday by cooking out at the lake with some friends. But lets think about that scenario. They probably plan to pick up some last minute items at the grocery store on the way. They may grab a breakfast sandwich at a drive through, or rent a boat at the lake. They may catch a movie later. Some people will even make it a long weekend and stay at a hotel. If the barbeque gets out of control, they will expect the police and fire department to respond. If they break their arm and go to the hospital, they will certainly expect it to be fully staffed. This means that all of those employers — retail stores, restaurants, movie theaters, hotels, boat rentals, police and fire departments, hospitals and more — must have employees working. Not all of those employees are volunteers. Many of them would rather be home enjoying the holiday with their families, as well. But they realize that working on holidays is part of the job.

Thousands of employees — perhaps millions — work every holiday, and we should all be grateful for them!

Probably not. This is the type of polite thing that people say all the time when laying off an employee, whether they really mean it or not. It is like saying \\\”It\’s nice to meet you\\\” to your daughters new biker boyfriend with the tatoos, pierced eyebrow and leather chaps.

Even if the employer meant this at the time, business conditions may have changed. They may have found someone else to do the work more cheaply, or who is friendlier and more helpful, or who has a different kind of expertise. This statement probably was not meant to imply that the employer would never hire anyone else for any reason.

Still, in this country it is possible to sue anyone at anytime for any reason. The employee could hire a lawyer and sue the employer for breach of promise, or another reason. It seems unlikely that the employee would win, though.

No, there is no law in Texas that requires one day of rest in seven for employees. An employer can require an employee to work 7 days per week in Texas. In fact, an employer could require an employee to work 365 days per year in Texas. We are not suggesting that. A number of studies show that employees are more productive when they have at least one day off per week. But, it would be legal.

This will depend upon which agency is requesting the affadavit. In most cases, the affadavit form can be found on the agencys website. In Oregon, for example, a candidate for certification as a Water System Operator must submit an affadavit of work experience from his or her supervisor. The form is available on the oregon.gov website.

Under immigration law, applicants for visas sometimes have to furnish affadavits from employers, basically stating that they have a job. Usually that form can be found on the agencys website.