Human Resource Blog

You do not mentio which state you are in, and it makes a big difference. There is no federal law that requires meal breaks for an employee in general industry. However, nineteen U.S. states have laws that require meal breaks for almost all employees.

Since you mention 7.5 hours, you may be in Illinois. If so, here is your answer: Illinois law requires that the employee be given a meal break of at least 20 minutes on a shift of 7.5 hours or more. The break can be unpaid if the employee is relieved of all duties. Some states permit the employee to decline a meal break, as long as that is done in writing. Illinois does not, so when this employee works straight through, you are breaking the law. Yes, you can discipline or terminate any employee who does not clock out for a required meal break. This would be true, even if you were in a state without a break law.

Meal break laws are different in other states. If you are not in Illinois, please post an additional question that mentions your state.

Neither. Unlike some other countries, the U.S. does not define a standard work week. The FLSA or Fair Labor Standards Act merely says that an employer must pay overtime when the employee works more than 40 hours in the payroll week. An employer can routinely require that the employee work 60, 80 or even 100 or more hours per week, as long as the employer pays overtime.

Restrictions apply in certain occupations such as interstate truck driver and airline pilot. Some states limit mandatory overtime for registered nurses.

Several states have laws that require overtime after 8 hours. Very, very few states have laws that limit the number of hours an employee in general industry can be required to work in a day or in a week.

No, there is no law that would require you to give an employee July 4 off, or another day off if they work on July 4.

This is a matter of company policy rather than employment law. There is no law in most states that you must give employees any holidays at all, paid or unpaid (unless you are in Rhode Island.) An employer can choose to give paid holidays to workers, or to not give paid holidays to workers. If the employer chooses to give paid holidays to workers, the employer determines which days will be considered holidays. You could make Groundhog Day or International Pickle Day a holiday and not the Fourth of July, if you wanted to.

If you do offer paid holidays, there is no law that you must give an employee another day off if the employee worked on July 4. Some employers would do so, others would not. Many, many employers including hospitals, hotels, gas stations, fire departments and police departments have employees working on July 4 and every other day of the year.

You do need to have a consistent policy, and to enforce it. Treating some employees better than others could result in illegal discrimination. But as long as you treat all the employees the same, you need not give one who works on the holiday any special benefit.

You are right that FMLA requires that the employee be returned to the same job, with the same responsibilities, working conditions and pay as before FMLA leave.

By law, you cannot change an employees responsibilities or job duties because she went on FMLA leave. It is illegal retaliation against the employee.

To avoid the appearance of illegal retaliation, our recommendation is that you handle this as a two-step process. In July, the employee will be returned to her job, just as it was before her leave started. It will include the same duties, responsibilities and pay as before. You should address any performance issues you have promptly, and document those changes. (Unfortunately, the opportunity to address performance issues before the FMLA has passed.)

Sixty to 90 days later, you can implement a reorganization of the company. You will change some responsibilities and set clear performance standards that must be met. By separating the two, you avoid the appearance of illegal discrimination or illegal retaliation. If the changes to job responsibilities are significant, and the employee choses to quit rather than accept them, she will qualify for unemployment benefits.

If the employee has submitted a work authorization document that has an expiration date, you not only can request a new one with that is currently valid, by law you must do so. By allowing the employee to work without proper authorization, you are in violation of the law.

You can and should not schedule the employee until he or she can meet the legal requirements to be employed. Note that you are not making a judgment on whether the employee can legally work in the U.S. or not — that is not your job. You are simply following the law, which permits you to employ only those people who can provide the documents required on the I-9.

Read more about this at: http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-9.pdf