Q. I applied for a new position within my company—a promotion—for which my on-the-job experience clearly makes me the best candidate. However, the job posting states that the job requires a college degree and my employer will not even interview me for the job because he says I do not meet the minimum job requirements. Is this legal? ...

Q. I recently asked an applicant whether she used illegal drugs. She told me she understood that employers were not allowed to ask such questions. Is this legal? ...

Q. We need our employees to work longer shifts to meet current production demands. Some employees have objected because this will interfere with their child care responsibilities. Is it legal for us to do this? ...

Q. Are there any alternatives to paying employees on a salary basis and having them remain exempt from the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act? ...

Q. How long should I keep employment-related records, such as wage information and personnel files? ...

Q. I recently docked one of my salaried employees’ pay for damage he caused to his company vehicle. My HR director said that by doing so, we might have made the employee eligible for overtime pay. Is this true? ...

The upcoming elections will highlight partisan politics and controversial issues affecting employees. No doubt, your workplace will be the site of some political discussions—and maybe overtly political activity. You need to understand when you can and cannot discipline employees for political activity ...

Q. Our policy prohibits employees from working overtime without specific written authorization from their supervisor. Our policy manual provides that employees will not be compensated for overtime hours worked unless they comply with this policy. Can we legally refuse to pay our employees for unauthorized overtime? ...

Q. About six months ago, we hired a new employee for our accounting department. Although he successfully completed his probationary period and has no formal disciplinary actions issued against him, he simply has an unpleasant personality and does not mesh well with the other employees in the department. Can we simply terminate him? After all, Ohio is an “at will” state. ...

Q. Our office manager, who is pregnant, has begun coming in late two or three times a week due to morning sickness. Because she is a salaried employee, we know that we cannot deduct from her wages for partial-day absences. Can we change her position to one that is paid on an hourly basis until she returns from her maternity leave? ...

As many of our readers are aware, November’s ballot will probably contain a referendum asking Ohio voters to approve the Ohio Healthy Families Act. The proposed legislation would require Ohio employers to provide seven days of paid sick leave annually for most employees. Employers had better be forewarned and forearmed in the event the proposal becomes law ...

Q. During the summer months, our business is very erratic. There are times when our employees must work mandatory overtime, and other times when production requirements are low. Especially during the summer, we know that our employees appreciate extra time off to spend with their families. Can we allow our employees to accumulate comp time off instead of paying them overtime if they are willing to agree? We feel this would be a win/win situation for both the company and our employees ...

Q. We work in a very small industry, and employees tend to circulate among various employers in our greater metropolitan area. Many of us belong to the same trade and professional organizations and know each other. We would like to be able to provide each other with honest information in response to reference checks about an employee’s work history, but everyone is reluctant to do so because the general opinion seems to be that the safer course of action is to give only names and dates of employment. Can employers provide honest information about the reasons for employment terminations in response to reference requests? ...

We have an employee who has worked for us for more than 12 months, but not 12 consecutive months (he left, and then we rehired him). Now this employee is requesting FMLA leave. Must the months of employment required to be eligible for FMLA leave be consecutive? ...

Q. I found my working conditions to be intolerable because of the behavior of my male co-workers that I considered to be sexual harassing. I just did not have the energy to complain about the behavior and face the consequences, so I quit without telling my employer about the harassment. I am having trouble finding a new job, and now I am thinking I made a mistake. Will I be able to sue my employer for sexual harassment? Can I obtain unemployment insurance?

Q. Are there specific questions that an employer is prohibited from asking during a job interview? ...

Q. I am a small business owner. A 17-year-old who is not emancipated and has not graduated from high school recently approached me seeking full-time employment. She claims that, because she is home-schooled, she can work full-time year-round and does not have access to a work permit from her school. Can I legally hire this minor without the school certificate required by Ohio law? ...

Employers, beware! Retaliation against a third party who is associated with an employee who engaged in protected activity now can be the basis of a lawsuit in Ohio ...

The recently enacted Ohio Veterans Package amends the Ohio Civil Rights Act to bar discrimination based on “military status.” As a result, Ohio employers now face new legal requirements on both the state and federal fronts for how they treat military employees and their families ...

The U.S. Labor Department has announced proposed revisions to the FMLA regulations. Also, the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2008 amended the FMLA to provide leave for eligible employees to care for injured service members and to deal with any “qualifying exigency” arising out of the fact that a covered family member is on active duty or has been notified of an impending call to active duty ...

In a dramatic reversal, the Ohio Supreme Court significantly limited the reach of its earlier decision in Coolidge v. Riverdale School Systems. That 2003 decision led attorneys and employers to conclude that it violated Ohio state public policy to terminate any employee who was eligible to receive temporary total disability payments under the Ohio Workers’ Compensation Act ...

In the fall of 2007, the Ohio Civil Rights Commission’s proposed revisions to the rules governing pregnancy discrimination became a hot political topic. Due to some unusual political wrangling, the future of the proposed rule revision is very much in question ...

The Ohio Supreme Court has narrowed the scope of the public-policy wrongful discharge claim in Ohio. In Leininger v. Pioneer Nat’l Latex, the Ohio Supreme Court said employees couldn’t claim wrongful discharge after being fired for speaking out on alleged age discrimination. Here’s what the decision means ...

The Ohio Supreme Court has substantially limited the “voluntary abandonment” doctrine in claims for temporary total disability compensation under the Ohio Workers’ Compensation Act. That means employers may have to pay temporary total disability payments to employees even if they were injured while breaking safety rules ...

The EEOC has issued new enforcement guidance concerning disparate treatment of workers with caregiving responsibilities—or “family-responsibility discrimination.” The guidelines are designed to help determine whether a particular employment decision is discriminatory. Family-responsibility discrimination is not a new type of discrimination, but rather an application of the existing discrimination laws to a situation that is drawing increasing attention ...