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DOL Issues Final Military Leave Regulations
An employer should take steps to ensure compliance with Family and Medical Leave Act regulations regarding military family and caregiver leave that will go into effect next month.

Obama's NLRB Recess Appointments Unconstitutional, Many Decisions Potentially Invalid
Employee-friendly rulings covering topics such as social media, at-will policies, arbitration agreements and the confidentiality of employee investigations are called into question.

Employment Law Manual State Updates for Employee Terminations
Decisions in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee illuminate problematic employment practices pertaining to terminations of employees who allege negligent supervision or improper training of employees, allege creation of an implied contract by terms of an employee handbook or "blow the whistle" on their employers.

Employment Law Manual State Updates for Workers' Compensation
Developments in Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Minnesota may affect how employers receive, handle or dispute workers' compensation claims.

Exit Interview Policy
An employer can use this new policy to establish its preference to conduct exit interviews and to inform employees of the importance of participating in exit interviews well before they are to occur.

Content Spotlight:
Workplace Romance

As Valentine's Day approaches, romance is in the air. With employees working long hours together in close proximity, romantic relationships can sometimes blossom at work. However, workplace romance can result in claims of sexual harassment or favoritism as well as potential conflicts of interest. XpertHR offers a variety of guidance and tools to help employers manage employee relationships.

To start, the Work Rules Concerning Personal Relationships and Activities section of the Employment Law Manual provides an overview of how employers should approach dating and romantic relationships in the workplace. The Harassment in the Workplace Legal Insight describes the risks that can arise from workplace romances.

An employer can adapt XpertHR's Employee Dating and Personal Relationships Policy to either prohibit workplace dating altogether or to permit employee dating, but require disclosure of such relationships. Should two employees become romantically involved, an employer can ask them to sign a Love Contract Form indicating that the employees are voluntarily engaging in a romantic relationship, that the relationship will not affect the workplace, and that the participants are aware of the employer's sexual harassment policy. Further, an employer needs to determine whether it will allow relationships between supervisors and employees, which may be disruptive and lead to claims of unfair treatment by co-workers. By using XpertHR's useful tools and documents, employers will be able to set guidelines for acceptable and unacceptable romantic behavior in the workplace.


Beth P. Zoller

Beth P. Zoller is the legal editor for the discrimination, affirmative action, harassment, retaliation, employee privacy, and employee handbooks/work rules/employee conduct content in the employee management section of XpertHR.

Prior to joining XpertHR, Beth practiced law for more than 10 years representing employers with respect to employment discrimination and harassment claims, contractual disputes, restrictive covenant issues, family and medical leave, wage and hour disputes and a variety of other employment-related claims.



State Highlights


Eleven More States Revise Withholding Tax Tables for 2013

New Jersey Proposes Rules Relating to Workplace Gender Pay Inequity Notice Requirements

Massachusetts Expands Background Check Law to Close Loophole

Iowa Joins DOL's Independent Contractor Enforcement Posse

Will New York Join Connecticut and Provide Paid Sick Leave?

Federal Highlights

EEOC Statistics Show Retaliation Still Top Workplace Concern

HHS Releases Long-Awaited HIPAA Omnibus Rule

Supreme Court to Hear 'Mixed Motive' Title VII Case

Union Membership Drops for Fifth Consecutive Year

Supervisors and Managers May Be Held to Higher Conduct Standards

DOJ Releases Technical Assistance Regarding University's Settlement of ADA Issues

IRS Issues Guidance on How to Apply the Retroactive Increase in Excludable Transit Benefits

Notice of Exchange Requirement Under Affordable Care Act Delayed

Contributor Spotlight


Eric E. Kinder is a member of the law firm of Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC. He is vice chair of recruiting and vice chair of the appellate group for the firm. Mr. Kinder's primary areas of practice are labor and employment law with an emphasis on wage and hour, employee benefits, ERISA litigation and USERRA. Read more...

New on XpertHR

What's New This Week?

Mexico is the latest addition to our International Manual.

Twenty-two state workplace posters have been updated, adhering to the many new compliance regulations of 2013. You can view all of our posters here.

Twenty-one IRS form and publication landing pages have been updated for 2013. Check out all of our IRS forms here.


When does an employer have to provide notice to employees of the health care exchanges?


Employers are required to notify employees of their right to purchase insurance from a state insurance exchange. Read more...
Coming Soon

New Progressive Discipline Workflow, a Supervisor Briefing on Ethics and More...


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Editor's Message

We hosted our second free webinar last week, on the new laws facing California employers in 2013. One of our author firms, Littler Mendelson, presented the topic, and with more than 200 attendees, it was clear how challenging an environment it is to be an employer in California. This is little surprise to anyone in HR. For multistate employers, this challenge is compounded - XpertHR has already updated more than 100 of our state employment law manual articles since the start of 2013 with legal changes across the states.

Two of our Legal Editors - Michael Jacobson and David Weisenfeld - are presenting at the free upcoming HR.com virtual conference: Legal and Compliance: Managing Employer Risk (Feb. 13- 14, 2013). Mike's presentation is "Firing a Person Without Getting Burned" and David's is "Key Trends in Pre-employment Screening and Testing". Feel free to attend one or both!

We've also got several more webinars coming - on Health Care Reform, Immigration and Gender Identity developments - all presented by attorneys from our top-notch author pool. We'll keep you apprised as the schedules get firmed up - they are free and you can get HRCI credits. You can't beat the convenience of watching from your desk, either.

Peggy Carter-Ward
Head of Content

Don't Miss!
XpertHR Legal Editor Michael C. Jacobson will appear on the DriveThruHR blogcast on Wednesday, Feb. 20, at 11:30 a.m. EST.

Participants can earn HRCI credits as Jacobson discusses how to identify problematic employees before they are terminated.

Immigration Reform Hot Issue for Employers in Upcoming Year
Experts Weigh Election's Impact on Employment Law
Affirmative Action Blockbuster Has Employment Implications
More...

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