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NJ Victims of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault Can Now Get Leave From Work
The New Jersey Security and Financial Empowerment Act, also known as the NJ SAFE Act has been passed. NJ SAFE Act would provide 20 days of unpaid leave time to an employee who is the victim of domestic violence or sexual assault or whose parent, child, spouse, or civil partner was the victim. The leave could be taken within one year of the incident, and used intermittently in intervals of no less than one day. Provided that the employee has not exhausted the allotted 20 days for the 12-month period, each violent incident would constitute a separate incident for which a victim is entitled to unpaid leave. Only business that employ 25 or more employees need comply with NJ SAFE Act. Those employees who have worked for the same employer for at least one year and have logged 1,000 base hours during the immediately preceding 12-month period are eligible.
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LEGAL ISSUES Unexpected Use of Tennessee Workplace Violence Act
A revision to the Tennessee Workplace Violence Act has seen an unexpected use — to seek a tempo- rary restraining order to prohibit a co-employee’s access to the workplace. The Act was amended in 2011 to allow any employer or employee who has suffered unlawful violence, or a credible threat of violence, which can reasonably be construed to have been carried out at the workplace, to seek a temporary restraining order or injunction prohibiting further unlawful violence, or threats of violence,
by that individual, or the organization that individual is affiliated with, at the workplace. The Act also provides, “Nothing in this chapter will be construed as expanding, diminishing, altering or modifying the duty, if any, of an employer to provide a safe work- place for employees and other persons.” Employers should reexamine their employee handbook contents and policies for provisions that address workplace violence prevention and response. Employers are urged to make certain that their HR or risk management professionals are aware of and properly respond to any complaints of workplace violence. In addition, employees should be informed about language and acts that are not appropriate in the workplace and the internal procedures to address complaints of such misconduct.
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Coca-Cola Company Properly Required Employee to Undergo Mental Examination After Employee Threatened Co-Workers
In Owusu-Ansah v. The Coca-Cola Company, the employee challenged the employer’s requirement that he undergo a mental examination as a condition of continued employment. Franklin Owusu-Ansah was a quality assurance specialist for a Coca-Cola call center located in Georgia. During a meeting with his supervisor, Owusu-Ansah complained about discrimination and harassment, became agitated, banged his fist on the table, and stated that someone was “going to pay for this.” The employer required Owusu-Ansah to undergo a mental health fitness-for- duty examination. After submitting to the examination and being released to returned to duty, he sued alleging that the require- ment that he undergo the fitness for duty examination violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). Dismissing the claim, the federal Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that the ADA allows a medical examination that is job related and consistent with business necessity. The court held that Coca-Cola had a reasonable, objective concern about the employee’s mental state which potentially threatened the safety of other employees.
Source:
http://www.fenwick.com/Publications/Pages/Fenwick-Employment-Brief-July-2013.aspx#coke
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