Human Resource Blog

You have to take the injured employee back. Employers cannot take a negative job action against an employee due to a workers comp injury (even if the emloyee was at fault.) An employer cannot retaliate against a worker who was injured on the job. Firing the employee because they had to take time off with a work-related injury is both.

If you are genuinely unable to keep both the injured worker and her replacement, you must fire the replacement. A better tactic would have been to hire a temporary replacement in the first place.

OSHA regulations require that employees in general industry be permitted to use the restroom when nature calls. OSHA permits some restrictions on bathroom use. For example, an assembly line employee may have to wait 5 or 10 minutes to be relieved by a supervisor, before taking a bathroom break. However, OSHA has generally ruled that waiting an hour or more is excessive.

This rule may also constiture sex discrimination, since it may have a dispariate impact on two protected groups: women or pregnant employees. At certain times of the month, a woman may need to use the restroom more frequently than twice per day. Pregnant women may need to use the restroom more frequently. So this policy is somewhat problematic.

The best practice in HR would be to permit employees to use the restroom when necessary and focus instead on employee productivity. Even if Suzie uses the restroom 11 times a day, if all of her work is done, it is not a big deal. There is an exception to this rule in some situations, as when an employee is working alone at a hotel front desk or in a convenience store.

If the employee has a bona fide disability under EEOC or Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regulations, then more frequent bathroom breaks would be a reasonable accommodation. IBS or Irritable Bowel Syndrome would probably be a disability, at least under the 2009 regulations. A weak bladder might not be.

Yes, this is almost certainly a workers comp claim, because it was a company-sponsored event on company property on company time. Any one of those factors would usually make the worker eligible for workers comp, even though the employee was not actively working.

The issue is a little more complicated than that, but filing a workers comp claim is definitely the place to start.

Even when a company-sponsored event is off the premises, employers may be required to pay for the injury. In one example, a company picnic was held in a local park. After the event, the management staff was expected to gather at an executives home for drinks. Following an alcohol fueled evening, one of the marketing people tripped down the front steps and caught her leg in the railing. The injury was so severe that the leg had to be amputated. The court ruled that this was a workers comp claim, because the employee believed that her attendance at the social event was required. (This type of case is one reason why fewer employers are serving alcohol or holding company sponsored events.)

If you aren\’t sure whether your workers comp insurance will cover employees at a cookout…why are you holding cookouts? I know, I know, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

The Oregon Smokefree Workplace law goes into effect on January 1, 2009. Under the law, employers must post non-smoking signs and prohbit smoking in almost every workplace, including restaurants and bars. Smoking is also prohibited within 10 feet any entrances, exits, windows or air vents. Employers are responsible for enforcing the law.

Check out sister site, blog.laborlawcenter.com, for an article about this important topic in the next day or so.

It appears that the legislators specifically targeted video poker parlors with this law. The only exceptions are for smoke shops, cigar bars, hotels or motels, and smoking by native Americans for ceremonial purposes. In order to qualify as a smoke shop or cigar bar, the business must not contain any video gaming machines or lottery machines.

Read more about this law at: http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/ph/smokefree/thelaw.shtml

Depending upon the circumstances, yes, you may be entitled to the results of the drug tests, or you may require separate drug tests of your own.

Drug addiction is a serious health condition under FMLA. (In some cases, it may be a disability under the EEOC guidelines.) However, the law does not protect an employee who is currently using illegal drugs at work. When an employee admits to having used illegal drugs, or is proven to have used illegal drugs in the past, employers can design a program to work with the employee. Part of that program may require drug tests or proof that the employee is not currently using illegal drugs.

Some states have laws about drug testing in the workplace, that would alter this answer. The best bet is to check with the U.S. Department of Labor and state department of labor before you proceed.