Legal Clinic

We have an employee who is a chronic prescription drug abuser. He has not been performing at work but every time we try to terminate him for cause, he immediately enters a drug rehabilitation program in order to avoid termination under the ADA, claiming that he has a disability. Does the ADA require that we keep this under-performing employee on our payroll just because he is enrolled in a drug rehabilitation program?

A lot of attention has been paid to proposed or enacted legislation that prohibits discrimination in hiring practices against job applicants who are currently unemployed. Can you give us an overview of: (i) the states that have enacted this sort of legislation; (ii) the key provisions of the legislation; (iii) the states that have proposed such legislation; and (iv) what employers can do to prepare and comply?

With the summer around the corner, our company has gotten a lot of applications from teenagers and 18-year-olds. We would like to hire them, but don't want to violate any federal or state laws that deal with the employment of minors. What federal and state laws apply to employing people who are 18 and under, and what are the requirements that we have to meet? We are in the food and beverage manufacturing industry.

We have a very uncomfortable situation at work. One of our employees has asked for FMLA paternity leave to take care of a newborn child whom he claims is his. The problem is, this employee did not give us any prior notice of the birth, and his wife (whom he lives with) is not the mother of this child. He has apparently fathered this child with one of the women whom he has been having an affair with. Can we ask this employee to provide us proof that he is, in fact, the father of this child as a requirement for granting him FMLA leave?

Question: One of our employees has requested FMLA leave to care for a child with a serious health condition that he is not the biological father of, but whom he has taken an active role in raising. All other requirements for eligibility for FMLA leave have been met but because this employee is not the child's biological parent and there is no legal parent-child relationship between him and the child (he has not legally adopted the child, though he has been raising him) we are uncertain whether the law requires us to grant him the requested FMLA leave. Does it?

Question: The CEO of my company has asked that I perform an audit of our HR department. I haven't done one before. Can you explain the process and provide some ideas of what specifically to look for. Also, are there any drawbacks we might face to doing an audit?

Question: Can you provide us with a termination checklist or cheat sheet? As HR professionals, we often have the difficult duty of handling terminations. Can you give us a list of things we need to do and/or prepare (a) before the employee's last date of employment, (b) on the employee's last date of employment and (c) after the last date of employment so that the process takes place smoothly and we reduce litigation risk?

Question: Workplace violence is becoming a disturbing fact of life these days. Can you suggest some pre-emptive steps that HR professionals and employers can take to (a) best reduce the threat and (b) respond to it if and when it occurs so that we protect our employees and the company?

Our company does not provide written job descriptions for employees. Should we have them? If so, what topics should be included in a job description?

Are employers required to pay employees who are out on jury duty? If so, do they have to pay employees a full day's salary while on jury duty? Can employers require them to return to work if they get out of jury duty early for the day?