October's Top 5 Employment Hotline Questions
Q: I recently terminated an employee who owes me money. Can I withhold the amount owed from the employee’s last paycheck?
A: No. An employer cannot deduct amounts owed from an employee’s paycheck without a written agreement.
Q: I have an employee who has a very physically demanding job and is pregnant. I am concerned that she will no longer be able to perform her duties. What should I do?
A: Ask the employee for a doctor’s note to determine any restrictions on her ability to perform her job duties.
Q: I provided training to employees on a particular topic and only some of them passed testing. Do I have to spend money to retrain the employees who failed, or can I require that they get the training on their own?
A: You should inform employees that training is mandatory and will only be paid by you once, and that subsequent training in the case of a failure will be at the employee’s expense.
Q: I have an absenteeism issue with one of my employees. I sent her a letter informing her that if she did not return to work on a specified date, she would be terminated. She did not return on that date and instead sent a note saying she would be out for another two weeks. Should I terminate the employee or allow her to not show up and treat it as a resignation?
A: If you did not immediately inform the employee on the day she failed to return to work that she would be terminated pursuant to your letter, it would appear that you consented to the extra two weeks. The safest course of action would be to send the employee a letter now which states that if she does not return to work by the end of the two weeks, it will be considered job abandonment she will be terminated at that time.
Q: Can I terminate an employee who is a registered sex offender and did not disclose that he was a felon on his job application?
A: Yes. An employer may terminate an employee for lying on his or her employment application.