The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 will become effective on Jan. 1, 2009. Now is the time to prepare for the impact. The new law effectively broadens the scope of protection offered by the ADA, which Congress found to have been narrowed in recent years by various U.S. Supreme Court decisions and EEOC regulations.

Q. My son and his friends, all of whom are 11 years old, have asked if they can work for me for the next several months in order to earn money for a camping trip they plan to take during summer break. Can I help out my son and his friends by employing them for a few hours after school several days a week? I know there are child labor laws, but this is a good cause.

Q. Several employees have requested leave to be witnesses in an upcoming criminal trial. This is the busiest time of year for me. Can I discipline these employees in accordance with my absentee policy for missing work to attend this trial? If they know that’s what I plan to do, maybe they can avoid being witnesses.

Q. I own a retail store and I have large inventory outlay costs during the first half of the month. To help manage my cash flows, I would like to begin paying my hourly employees at the end of the month. Can I pay them once a month at the end of each month? ...

Q. My company owns a large manufacturing facility in Georgia. I’m familiar with federal requirements, but does Georgia provide for record-keeping requirements under state fair employment practice laws? ...

Q. What happens if I run an E-Verify check on an employee and find out he or she is an unauthorized worker? ...

Q. What is the required time frame for conducting an employment eligibility check on a newly hired employee under E-Verify? Am I required to run the check before the employee begins work? ...

Q. I know Georgia’s Security and Immigration Compliance Act requires all state contractors and subcontractors to verify the citizenship of their employees. But how do I know which employees must be verified?...

Q. Some of our nonexempt employees occasionally begin work before their established starting times. We’ve always paid them for this time, but I’ve recently read that Georgia employers don’t have to pay an employee for such time if the early start was not approved in advance. Is this true? ...

Q. I understand that my company can be held liable for statements I make to employers seeking references for my former employees. What about statements I make or information I provide to the Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) regarding employment security benefits? ...

Q. How should we handle giving references about a former employee who was involved in litigation against the company or filed an administrative charge with a government agency, such as the EEOC or the DOL? Should we include that information in response to the reference? Or should we not provide any information at all? ...

Q. What can we do to protect our company from being sued by former employees when we give references? Should we require that the prospective employer provide us with a release or consent from the former employee? ...

Q. Our company constantly receives calls from prospective employers requesting references for our former employees. Recently, one of our receptionists told an inquiring employer that a former employee was terminated for falsifying his expense reports. The former employee now has threatened to file a lawsuit against us for defamation. Do we have any exposure? ...

Georgia’s Business Security and Employee Privacy Act (BSEPA) took effect July 1, 2008. The law expands employees’ rights to transport lawfully registered firearms in their vehicles even if they are traveling to work. The law will not turn the workplace into shooting galleries, but it will limit employers’ rights to search employees’ vehicles ...

Q. Several of our job descriptions have not been revised in decades. What type of information should we include in the updated descriptions? ...

Q. Now that summer is here, we have received applications from students under the age of 18 seeking seasonal employment with our company. Are there any requirements or restrictions that we need to be aware of before we hire a minor? ...

Q. We suspect an employee has been getting high at work. Over the past two weeks, co-workers have reported that the employee’s pupils were dilated and her speech was slurred. She stares out the window for extended periods of time, she fell while walking down the hall, her appearance is disheveled, and she takes multiple “rest breaks” to go to her car throughout the day. We want to search the employee’s car, but she refuses to let us. Can we search her car anyway? ...

In recent years, the Georgia courts have significantly expanded employers’ obligations—and therefore potential liability—in the area of negligent hiring and supervision. At the same time, employees and applicants now enjoy significantly expanded privacy rights. So it's more important than ever for employers to pay close attention to their application, hiring and background-check policies and practices ...

The U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decisions in Faragher v. City of Boca Raton and Ellerth v. Burlington Industries were a wake-up call for employers to take affirmative steps to prevent, detect and remedy unlawful workplace harassment. When harassment rears its ugly head, here's how to conduct your investigation.

Georgia employers participating in the state’s drug-free workplace (DFW) program must be careful to strictly follow the program’s guidelines or risk incurring workers’ compensation benefit liability they never intended ...

Georgia employees are generally free to compete against their former employers, solicit their customers and employees, and even use or disclose any confidential information that can’t be classified as a “trade secret.” This can be disastrous for employers. But there’s some good news for employers ...

The IRS recently issued final regulations for implementation of Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code. Section 409A regulates deferred compensation. Deferred compensation benefits traditionally have been viewed as compensation reserved for executives and upper management level employees. But the effects of Section 409A extend much further. Now is the time to familiarize yourself with the regulations ...

No matter the size of your operation, hiring and retaining qualified and honest employees is critical. A recent study found that 36.5% of employment verifications revealed inconsistencies and 14% provided false or inconsistent information about education. That means every employer has a good reason to undertake background checks of all potential employees before making hiring decisions, particularly for positions involving confidential or sensitive information ...

Employment lawyers have been warning for some time that blogs will one day be a volatile issue in the workplace. Recent events show that day has arrived. For example, a member of the Cherokee County, GA, Planning Commission provoked a firestorm of controversy after an online post she made advocated dismantling Israel to achieve peace in the Middle East. The outcry forced her to resign ...

Q. Historically, we have allowed employees to take two hours off with pay on days when there are federal, state, or local elections. Our new vice president of HR says only certain employees are entitled to such leave and that it’s not paid leave. What are our obligations under Georgia law?