Employees' family issues sometimes flare up into domestic violence. About a dozen states have laws that allow employees to take job-protected leave from work to deal with domestic violence issues. But take note: Even if your state doesn’t have a specific law, you may need to grant such rights as a matter of “public policy.” A recent court ruling from Washington state shows the legal risks ...

Doesn’t it seem like once an employee complains about harassment or discrimination they enter some kind of “employee protection program,” much like the witness protection program? They become practically untouchable because employers are so afraid of being hit with retaliation lawsuits. You may have legitimate business reasons—such a restructuring—to eliminate a complainer’s job, just first sit back and think how it will look to a jury ...

Have you ever flat-out fired an employee for poor performance without any warning? If employees are “at-will,” you can fire them for any reason or no reason at all, as long as it’s not for a discriminatory or illegal reason. Does that allow you to drop the guillotine without guilt? As a new court ruling shows, supervisors should resist that urge (and give the person a chance to shape up) if that employee recently voiced a complaint about discrimination...

Responding to a harassment complaint is a lot like running a sprint race—even if you start well and do everything right, one trip near the finish will wipe you out. For HR, the most common problem comes when it handles an initial harassment complaint or lawsuit just fine, but then some genius in the office decides to “get back” at the complainer in some way. Doing things 99% right just isn’t enough to stay out of court...