It can be a challenge to manage unresponsive employees while on leave. Law firms like Littler LLP can assist with this. Lawyers like Sari Springer and Harrison Brown have particular expertise in these areas.
When you own a business, you must know all kinds of things to comply with various laws. Employment law is one of those things that you can’t afford not to know.
After all, employment law violations are costly due to fines and compensation payouts and could cause your business to fail. Therefore, lawyers advise all business owners to know these five employment laws.
Civil Rights Laws and Unresponsive Employees On Leave
As an employer, you are not allowed to discriminate against employees based on certain protected classes. These are:
- Race
- Religion
- Age
- Gender
- Disability or medical condition
- Sexual orientation
- National origin
- Whistleblower activity
This type of law, at its core, prevents you from hiring, firing, demoting, promoting, or otherwise favouring or singling out any employee based on these characteristics. For example, you would not be allowed to advertise only men just because they are men or because you believe a woman is unable to fulfill the duties of a promoted position.
This law also prevents you from asking questions on an application or in an interview that could reveal a person’s protected status. Of course, you’ll see a person’s race and, most likely, their gender when you interview them. On an application, you should avoid asking about their birthdate, graduation date, maiden name, or any other type of question that might be considered a discriminatory probe.
Willful violations of civil rights laws can incur fines of up to $10,000 per incident. Settlements and legal judgments can be much higher.
Family and Medical Leave Laws
For employees who have worked for at least 12 months for your company, you must provide unpaid family and medical leave time for up to 12 weeks for a documented medical reason for the employee or a family member. This includes paying for pregnancy-related care and the period following birth. Again, you do not have to pay employees for the time they aren’t working, but you must hold their position for them.
Fines for violating the Family and Medical Leave Act, or FMLA, range from a few hundred dollars for failing to post FMLA notices to thousands of dollars per employee. This excludes court settlements that can reach hundreds of thousands of dollars in back pay for employees denied the right to return to work when exercising their FMLA rights.
Compensation Laws
Compensation laws are designed to protect workers’ wages and include specific laws like minimum wage requirements, child labour laws, overtime pay requirements, workers’ compensation for the workplace and job-related injuries and illnesses, and pay and hour requirements for minors.
Violations of overtime and minimum wage requirements can incur penalties of up to $1,000 per violation, and if you ignore child labour laws, you could be fined up to $10,000 per violation. Employment lawyers will also tirelessly ensure that wronged employees are compensated fairly.
The Fair Labor Standards Act, which governs compensation laws in the United States, prohibits the shipment of goods produced by companies that violate child labour, minimum wage, and overtime pay laws. This means that not only could you be fined for willfully violating these laws, but you could also lose any goods produced when you were in violation.
Workplace Safety Laws
The Occupational Safety and Health Association, or OSHA, has developed strict rules regarding the safety of workplaces for employees. Every industry has different standards based on the type of work they do. After all, safety regulations will be much different for a construction company than a tech company.
Fundamental laws in this category include correctly training employees to operate heavy machinery, wearing safety gear like goggles and hardhats, and ensuring dangerous chemicals are handled appropriately.
Companies are also prohibited from punishing employees who refuse to perform a workplace activity because of a safety concern. Even if the activity is deemed safe, the employee cannot be penalized for not performing it before knowing it was secure.
The maximum penalty for OSHA violations is $14,502 per incident and an additional $14,502 per day beyond the abatement date for failure to abate. In other words, you will be fined up to the maximum amount per violation. If you don’t fix the issue by OSHA’s stated deadline, you will be subjected to the maximum penalty each day you do not fix the problem after the deadline has passed.
Work Eligibility Laws
Work eligibility laws are pretty complex because they involve the immigration status of your workers. They can hold several programs and permits that allow them to work legally in the United States.
You want to be sure your employees are eligible to work in the country so that they and you are protected. This category also handles the age of employees since there are restrictions regarding how old a person has to be before they can be employed in specific industries.
The fines for violating work eligibility laws vary based on the type and severity of the violation. Some penalties are as high as $34,871 and as low as $230 for an I9 form error. The penalty schedule for work eligibility violations is updated every few years, with the most recent update occurring in 2019.
Unresponsive Employees On Leave
Owning a business is a gratifying experience. You must carefully follow all employment laws to ensure your business can thrive now and well into the future.
If you are unsure about anything related to one or more of these laws, it is recommended that you seek the advice of an employment law attorney to ensure you’re following them to the letter. While you aren’t expected to be an expert on employment law as a business owner, you are expected to surround yourself with those who are to ensure you comply.
We hope you found this article on unresponsive employees on leave applicable for your situation.
Sari is the managing office partner located at 181 Bay Street. She has been a lawyer for around three decades. She focuses on employment law investigations.
Photo: Sari Springer
Harrison Brown is now with BLG, where he practices labour law. He became a lawyer in 2018.
Photo: Harrison Brown
