Generally, employees aren’t entitled to FMLA leave to care for adult children who suffer from serious health conditions—unless the child is disabled. The test is whether the child suffers from a physical or mental disability that makes self-care impossible.

When an employee takes FMLA leave, chances are you’ll have to replace him with a temporary employee or assign the work to others. What happens if the fill-in worker discovers that the employee currently out on FMLA leave wasn’t doing as good a job as you thought? Can you then fire the employee while he’s on FMLA leave?

Employers almost always contract out workplace drug testing and then rely on the results the contractor provides. If the employer then fires an employee who tests positive, chances are a court won’t second-guess the decision, since the employer relied on the test. That doesn’t mean the testing company can’t be sued.

Remind supervisors that any comments they make about race or another protected characteristic can come back to haunt the company. It doesn’t much matter whether the comments come before or after a termination decision has been made.

When promoting from within, one of the best ways to protect against retaliation claims is to use a promotion panel. If possible, make sure panel members don’t know about any complaints any of the candidates might have previously filed. That way, if the employee who says he’s being retaliated against doesn’t get the job, he can’t blame it on the panel’s knowledge of his prior protected activity.

According to the EEOC, Scrub Inc., which cleans commercial airplanes that land at O’Hare International Airport and provides janitorial services at other large Chicago-area facilities, discriminates against black job applicants.

The state Supreme Court has ruled that the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (IFOIA) covers the employment contracts of public officials. The case involved an IFOIA request for school superintendent Gary Catalani’s employment agreement with the Wheaton-Warrenville Community Unit School District 200.

Even the best bosses sometimes blow up. An employee slacks off or messes up, and the manager lashes out. Everyone knows such outbursts shouldn’t happen. That doesn’t mean they won’t. How you handle the aftermath may make the difference between a jury trial and a smooth return to workplace normalcy.

Employees who want a promotion sometimes get upset when they aren’t selected, especially if the job winds up going to someone they perceive as less skilled or talented. But if the spurned employee’s extra skills or training weren’t necessary, they aren’t particularly relevant. And they’re certainly no proof that the promotion process was tainted by bias.

The FMLA applies to employees who have worked more than 1,250 hours and for one year—provided their employer has a staff of 50 or more working within 75 miles of the employee’s base. Typically, the base is where the employee reports. But what about a salesperson who travels over a set territory and works from home?

The Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Paducah, Ky., processed more than one million tons of uranium during the Cold War, often without adequate safeguards for employees. Now the U.S. Department of Labor has paid out more than $500 million in benefits to plant employees and their survivors.

Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich may be gone, but the effects of the ethics scandal that drove him from office live on. Gov. Pat Quinn has signed a package of legislation governing ethics for Illinois state employees.

Swissotel has entered into a settlement agreement after the EEOC alleged supervisors at the Swissotel Chicago harassed a developmentally disabled employee. According to the suit, hotel managers called the worker “retard” and ultimately fired him because of his disability.

Under the FMLA, only employers that have 50 or more employees within 75 miles of the company’s work site are required to provide FMLA leave to their employees. The requirement is commonly known as the “50/75 rule.” Can an employer that has fewer than 50 employees within 75 miles of the company’s work site willingly agree to provide its employees with FMLA rights and benefits? That situation recently occurred in Reaux v. Infohealth Management Corp.

Employers have to reasonably accommodate disabilities, and those accommodations may include reduced hours or time off. However, employees aren’t entitled to paid time off.

Illinois law doesn’t allow employers to fire employees for reporting wrongdoing that compromises public policy. What that means is open to interpretation ...

Members of the armed services are protected from discrimination and have re-employment and leave rights under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). But the law doesn’t require employers to indefinitely continue what amount to voluntary special privileges for service members.

For years, employers have grappled with what sexual harassment is and what it isn’t. Lost in the debate is the fact that a workplace is just that—a place where work is supposed to be done. Here’s a good way to end the arguments about what is sexual harassment and prevent potential problems down the line: Implement a policy that clearly bans sexual banter.

Employees who want promotions or transfers have to request them using whatever method the employer sets. They can’t just casually express their desire for the job.

Some disabled employees have the mistaken notion that their disabilities give them a pass that excuses unacceptable behavior. However, there's no duty to accommodate what is essentially conduct. For example, employers don’t have to tolerate an alcoholic who shows up at work disheveled and reeking of alcohol or someone with a mental disorder who threatens to harm co-workers.

The EEOC has sued Chicago-based United Airlines for disability discrimination on behalf of disabled employees.

A jury will decide whether Wackenhut Inc. discriminated against Lord Osunfarian Xodus when the security firm turned him down for a security guard position. Xodus, a Chicagoan who practices Rastafari, claimed he lost out on the job after he refused to cut his dreadlocks for religious reasons.

Q. One of our employees was issued a company laptop and later corrupted it by downloading games and other nonbusiness software. Can we recover the value of the damaged property from this employee’s next paycheck?

Q. We are committed to providing a healthy and safe environment for our workforce. To that end, we strictly prohibit smoking on company property. Can we also prohibit employees from smoking during their lunch breaks and outside of work?

Rockford, Ill.-based Area Erectors Inc., has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by 23 workers who alleged racial discrimination. According to the EEOC, the company laid off black workers while keeping equally qualified and tenured white workers.