Questions tagged [employment]
For questions that are about, or that arise as a result of, workplaces or the performance of work-related duties.
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If a company agrees to pay travel cost for a job interview, is the promise binding and enforceable?
There is a question on workplace.SE about a company which offered to pay travel costs for a job interview, but canceled the return ticket after ending the interview - Potential Employer Cancels Return ...
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votes
6
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Why is stealing from an employer a criminal act when stealing from an employee is a civil act?
Here is the full question with all the context and details:
In the majority of cases in the U.S. about theft at a workplace, why is the matter usually tried in a criminal court when the employer is ...
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54
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4
answers
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Can an employer withhold pay for a fire drill?
Moved from WorkplaceSE.
Recently there was a routine fire drill in an office building. As with most fire drills, it took about half an hour for the fire drill to complete and for everyone to get ...
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9
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Can I terminate an employee for qualifying for a job through a "degree mill?"
We have recently put together an HR unit, which reviewed all our employees and found that one has an unsatisfactory qualification (BA in Public Relations from an unaccredited college). HR suggested ...
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44
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3
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Virginia employer terminated employee and wants signing bonus returned
A Virginia employee was terminated within 1 year of hiring because the on-site customer felt he was "too negative". Offer Letter:
Along with this offer, you are receiving a $10,000.00 signing bonus, ...
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43
votes
3
answers
11k
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Is it breach of contract if dismissed before starting work?
I've been dismissed by a company I was due to start a job with, just a few days before the job was meant to start. They have no intention of providing me with any compensation despite the fact I ...
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40
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1
answer
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Do I have legal rights against a company that offered me a raise to not leave, and then promptly fired me after turning down the other offer?
I was just informed of this situation that occurred somewhere by a co-worker, and was wondering what the legal ramifications are (U.S. Law). To be clear, the scenario is as follows:
I tell my boss I'...
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9
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How will anyone know if an employer fires an employee for an illegal reason?
From the Wiki article "At-Will Employment":
At-will employment is a term used in U.S. labor law for contractual relationships in which an employee can be dismissed by an employer for any ...
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3
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Is the bus driver forced to break a law when allocated more students than the maximum capacity of the bus?
At the high school I go to, our school district's transportation department (likely due to budget reasons) has allocated more students onto one bus than its maximum capacity, resulting in kids sitting ...
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2
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In the US, why are companies giving big "let go" package to people they want to let go?
It is shown in movies and is probably true, such as in the movie Jobs about Steve Jobs, that when he came back to Apple as the CEO, he found out who was not productive or who were probably not inline ...
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2
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Can an employer fine an employee in Virginia?
My son just started a job with a franchisee of a well-known delivery company. The franchisee is located in Virginia, and some of the items in the employee handbook sound fishy to me. He was given a ...
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31
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2
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12k
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What are the rules on businesses that wish to only hire attractive females?
Many businesses feature beautiful female employees as part of their business plan and service offering. Examples include:
Hooter's waitresses
Sportclips stylists
A small chain of drive-thru smoothies ...
- 437
29
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3
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12k
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Can pay be witheld for hours cleaning up after closing time?
The bar in California, where I work, closes at midnight. We start cleaning (bar, kitchen, bathrooms, dishes) before we close, but only if it's not too busy. Once midnight hits, it takes 30 minutes ...
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6
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Is the requirement to have positive attitude discriminatory?
Many companies list "positive attitude" as a requirement for the candidates, including job positions that have nothing to do with customer service or management (for which jobs it could be ...
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2
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Why are Hollywood studios permitted to collectively bargain with employees, and what are the limits of this apparent antitrust exemption?
Employers are generally not allowed to coordinate in any way which limits the normal competition for employees. Further, trade associations are not generally permitted to act in ways which would ...
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Is my employer allowed to make me work without pay?
As the title says: A coworker and I had recently made a mistake at work. In response to this, our manager decides we have to work for two extra hours on our next shifts unpaid. Is this legal?
I work ...
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Can a university make rules about students' lives outside campus?
I recently noticed that my university has a Covid-related policy stating that students are not permitted to attend public gatherings off-campus. Today, they officially stated that students breaking ...
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27
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5
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Is it legal for employers to hire only native speakers?
I recently learned that there are some companies (for instance, certain editing, writing, or translation services) that explicitly refuse to hire non-native English speakers for certain positions a ...
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27
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2
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5k
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Strange Clause in Employment Contract Concerning Leaving Job
My teenager has applied for a tutoring job at a local after-school tutoring center and there is the following clause in her employment contract:
If you decide to discontinue after your term is over, ...
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26
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4
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10k
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Can Hollywood discriminate on the race of their actors?
Under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and later addenda, employers in the US "cannot discriminate" on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity), ...
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2
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Job interview adjustment request was ignored. Is this an act of discrimination?
Imaginary situation: a candidate arrives to a job interview for a position of software engineer. She had notified the HR manager that she has severe mobility problems and thus can't move around unless ...
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26
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2
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Are employers legally allowed to pay employees in goods and services equal to or greater than the minimum wage?
In the United States, full-time employees (not contractors) must be paid a minimum wage per hour. Assuming both parties agree to it, are they legally allowed to be paid in goods and services equal to ...
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Is it legal to have unpaid volunteer moderators (or other types of volunteers) on a for-profit community website?
It seems like everyone does it. I've never heard of a paid moderator (though I'm sure they probably exist). From what I've gathered, however, it sounds like having any kind of volunteers is illegal ...
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Is it legal for an employer to charge an employee for lost equipment?
I work for a hospital in Alberta, Canada.
As part of our job, we're required to use a walkie-talkie-like device called a Vocera Badge. Over the course of the last few years that we've been using them,...
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6
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7k
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First amendment and employment: Can a police department terminate an officer for speech?
The following article from CNN describes a Michigan police officer being put on administrative leave for having KKK material at his home: https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/10/us/michigan-officer-placed-on-...
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Deleting Software I Wrote Upon Leaving Employment of a Company
For some context, I live the US, in an at-will state, and there's no employment contract involved.
When I was younger, I worked at a warehouse doing inventory-related activities as an hourly employee ...
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23
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10
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7k
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If an employer owns any work you produce whilst employed, do you have to be un-employed before you can begin a startup?
I've always liked the idea of owning a start-up company, during my employment history I've encountered problems and developed solutions I think could be developed into an actual product. I'm concerned ...
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23
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3
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Can a racist business owner legally get away with saying he only wants to hire people that 'look white'?
This is a belated follow up to an earlier question where I asked how one can get away with hiring actors of an appropriate race when BFOQ (Bona Fide Occupational Qualifications) exceptions do not ...
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What are the limits of religious freedom in the workplace?
Federally in the US, only race, sex, and religion are protected classes, i.e. it's illegal to make employment decisions (hiring/firing/salary/promotion/etc.) on the basis of a worker's race, sex, or ...
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22
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1
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9k
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Is lying to get "gardening leave" fraud?
A group of my friends was celebrating one of our group securing a new job, and he was complaining about having to continue working at his old job for his 3 month notice period, we started discussing ...
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2
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3k
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Could the GoDaddy employee self-phishing test constitute a breach of contract?
Recently, GoDaddy executed a self-phishing test against its own employees. The message that employees received said that they could claim their holiday bonus by submitting their contact details on ...
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Using private software at work
Lets assume there is a piece of software I would love to use while programming at work. My company will not buy it (or it will take months before it goes through bureaucratic wall).
Can I purchase it ...
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Is there anything illegal about working for another party while on paid leave from one's job?
Meet Bob. Bob has 20 days' paid leave from his work. When he is taking this time off and being paid for it, is there anything wrong with him doing other paid work for another person or company?
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What rights does an employee retain, if any, who does not consent to being monitored on a work IT system?
I am interested in privacy at the interface between one's personal and professional lives. This question is adjacent, but not identical to others related to IT system use (1, 2). Given a workplace IT ...
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5
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Do Twitter disclaimers saying "opinions are my own" give any legal protection to the account owner?
A larger number of twitter accounts have a biography stating that tweets are their own opinion not that of their company. An example:
Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer
Does this ...
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2
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5k
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Paying to leave without notice in at-will employment state
Checking up here on a question that appeared on workplace.stackexchange.com: Someone signed a contract saying "If you leave the assignment without giving 15 days prior notice you will be liable to pay ...
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Are there any jobs that are forbidden by law to convicted felons?
Consider a hypothetical job-seeker who has been convicted of 30 felonies in the State of New York. This person is willing and able to re-locate anywhere within the United States or its territories, ...
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5k
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Can employer legally stop paying time & 1/2 to exempt employee after stating in the offer that they would do so?
Late July I got a job as a computer programmer on a 6 month contract with the agency that recruited me (although I actually work for another company). The job is W-2, paid hourly, but as I'm a ...
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4
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What are my options legally if NYC company is not paying salary?
UPDATE:
I was just let go today, May 8. After being let go, 2-3 hours later I was asked to sign a general release. Obviously I declined. I told them I cannot sign a general release as I have a claim ...
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7
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Can you be fired for refusing to lie?
If your employer asks you to lie about something, and telling the lie is legal, but you refuse on moral grounds, can they fire you? Does it matter if religious beliefs are involved? (For example, if a ...
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In the US, are employers liable for torts caused by their employees working from home
I WFH and today I had a meeting that ran way over time and I had to pick up my kid from school. I didn't want to miss the rest of the discussion and wanted to push back on one issue, so threw my ...
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The legal length of one month
Referring specifically to employment contracts in England, I've seen contracts that specify "one month of notice" to be given before termination of the contract.
This does not specify whether this ...
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Conflict between a religious belief that accounts for the existence of transgender people vs. one that doesn't
Country: US
State: Michigan
Example:
Ann belongs to a denomination that accepts the existence of transgender people as what they claim they are. Ann starts a company that grows to over 25 employees,...
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3
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Does a tenured professor whose salary was set to 0 have a case for constructive dismissal?
See https://www.ams.org/journals/notices/202302/rnoti-p196.pdf?adat=February%202023
The head of the Purdue math department set a tenured professor’s salary to 0. This seems very strange to me and I ...
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In Ratatouille, did Linguini have a legally legitimate reason to fire Skinner?
In Ratatouille, when Linguini took over Gusteau's by proving he inherited the restaurant, Skinner seemingly lost his job. Was there legal precedent for Skinner to lose his job; would Skinner hiding ...
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1
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Fired (seemingly) for finding paycheck inconsistencies. What kind of legal recourse might exist?
Not me, but a friend.
They found some paycheck inconsistencies for them and a bunch of other employees, and asked about it. The response from management was "oh, oops. We'll fix it"
A few ...
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2
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What legal standing do non-compete clauses have in employment contracts?
Almost every job I have ever held has a non-compete clause, lasting for up to a year after I leave a particular organisation, prohibiting me form delivering similar services on behalf of a competitor.
...
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13
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2
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2k
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Who owns the code when my employer wants something similar to my existing open source project?
I have a similar situation to this question.
My employer hired me knowing that I work on some open source projects, but for a long time, showed no interest in my open source projects. Now they want ...
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13
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1
answer
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UK: Is it legal to secretly audio record a meeting or a phone call? Is it possible to use such recording in court?
In the United Kingdom:
Is it legal to secretly audio record a meeting (in an office) or a phone call while being a participant?
Is it possible to use such recording as an evidence in court or ...
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5
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6k
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If I quit, can my employer claim back pay that was agreed to but not included in our written contract?
About a year ago I started a job, my contract for it says:
Pay and Expenses
The Employee will be paid £9/hr in arrears. Salary may be increased at the direction of The Employer subject to The ...
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