They’re on really shaky legal ground if they ask you to bring paperwork that explains the nature of your medical care, because if they don’t hire you, it could look like they were discriminating against you for disability or pregnancy, both of which are illegal. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. Can a prospective employer ask for a doctor’s note when I don’t even work there yet? I was scheduled for an interview last Friday and missed it due to a miscarriage, which I ended up going to the hospital for. refuse to have them see why was the reason I missed. Is this legal? MORE

On top of that, many states make it illegal to discriminate in hiring on the basis of criminal convictions that don’t relate to the work someone is doing (and again, we don’t even know if there was a conviction here). It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. I don’t want my manager to email my team when I’m out. work in the accounting department, and I called out sick because my kids were sick. Every manager in my department sends out emails like this, but when a manager is out, I have noticed that no email is sent out. What your manager is doing is very, very normal. Is it? MORE

The ADA’s purpose is broader than just protecting individuals with disabilities from unlawful discrimination and requiring employers to offer individuals with disabilities reasonable accommodations to perform the essential functions of their jobs. A reader writes: I have a situation that is so out there I almost wouldn’t believe it if it wasn’t happening to me. The company I work at has three branches and around 100 employees. The owner of the company has a brother who needs a liver transplant. No exceptions. People who declined were let go. She had a doctor’s note. MORE

How can they discriminate against him like that? It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. Everyone knew I was fired before I knew. recently got into trouble at work, where I took complete blame for it. I was called into the office, where I was told I would be suspended for five days (two of them being non-business days) I was told that I had to call on the fifth day and ask if my job would still be available to me. On the third day of my suspension, I received a message from my friend (to who I didn’t mention anything about the situation) asking why I got fired. MORE

At the federal level, a lot of protections don’t kick in until an employer has 15 employees (most of the major discrimination and harassment laws), 20 employees (COBRA, which allows you to keep your health insurance after leaving your job, although you have to pay for it yourself), or 50 employees (Family and Medical Leave Act, the law that projects your job while you take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for your or a family member’s health situation). It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. If somebody calls out sick, I have to pay an additional person to cover that desk. MORE

Your employer can’t discriminate by sex, which it’s doing in subjecting you to different rules than men, especially a rule that’s causing you to have to stay at work long (unpaid, no less!). It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. I was offered my boss’s job, but now she says she’s not leaving. About two months ago, senior management took me aside to let me know that my boss would be leaving the company in a few months and that they wanted me to take her position. Since then. She said this literally as she was getting on an elevator so I had no chance to follow up. MORE

Companies are allowed to fire people for any reason they want, as long as it’s not based on race, sex, religion, disability, or other protected characteristic and as long as it’s not as retaliation for exercising a legally protected right like reporting discrimination. A reader writes: Last summer, I decided to re-enter the workforce after five years of raising my kids. applied to a bunch of jobs that I thought I could do, and got an interview at this one very small  company (~20 employees). proved myself and they brought me on full-time. . Clearly this was the right thing to do! MORE

In fact, a lot of people would like to see more employers moving to transparent pay because it makes it much easier to spot patterns of discrimination based on things like gender or race. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. My former manager is trash-talking my new manager. Until three months ago, I had major problems with my manager, who in my opinion bullied me. After taking the issue to her manager and to HR, I was assigned the same manager as she has, which was communicated as a reorganization. She would gossip about his apparent lack of competence, etc. MORE

FMLA allows you to take off up to 12 weeks per year unpaid for medical reasons; you can’t be fired for it.* If your employer has 15 or more employees, you may also be protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act , which prohibits discriminating against people with disabilities, which in many cases includes drug addiction. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. I’m a heroin addict and I need time off to get clean. have been working at my current job for about eight months. I’m a pretty good employee, just got a raise, am asked to assist in other departments, etc. MORE

We are a public university, so I’m worried that criticism like this may trip some more official discrimination investigation triggers that would be inappropriate. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. Former cofounder is trash-talking our organization. The cofounder and initial executive director of our small nonprofit was fired a few months after we launched for gross failure to carry out responsibilities and in no small part because of the way she treated the staff and other board members. Is there anything we can do? There seems to be a lot of turnover. MORE

It’s true that it’s illegal to discriminate against people for being 40 or older, but that means that an employer can’t make adverse employment decisions (like firing him) because of someone’s age … but they can fire him because of performance, attitude, laziness, or any of the other issues in play here. Discrimination laws don’t say “you can’t fire people protected by these laws”; they just say that someone’s age/race/sex/religion/disability/etc. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. I don’t want employers to see fanfic that I wrote in high school! MORE

Or, maybe the next time you’re pressured to going to someone’s house and meditating and then sharing your personal “vision,” you can say that you had a vision about your boss’s boss finding out about this and freaking out on her or about an impending religious discrimination lawsuit. A reader writes: I joined a new company last month and I’m pretty bemused at the company/team culture. For example, we have a weekly Law of Attraction tarot card ritual, where someone goes around and makes us draw two cards from a couple of Law of Attraction decks at random. What?! First, ugh, the Secret. MORE

Here’s what he said: “Employers with 15 or more employees are subject to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which, among other things, prohibits discrimination and harassment based on religion. To the extent employees refuse to participate and suffer negative consequences sufficient to constitute an adverse action, the employer will be deemed to have engaged in discrimination because of religion in violation of Title VII. Claims of religious discrimination are investigated by the U.S. Continental breakfast and lunch will be served. Is this legal? Agggh. Hello, MORE

Federal anti-discrimination laws apply to employers with 15+ employees (except for age discrimination, which applies at 20), although you should note that some states’ discrimination laws kick in earlier. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. My former manager wants me to host a product party for her. My former supervisor has been extremely helpful as a reference for me numerous times and I feel indebted to her to some degree for that. Perhaps she is aware of that, too. Apparently she is “starting a business” with Premier Jewelry. Noooooo. MORE

Is this discrimination? It’s possible that it’s illegal discrimination based on your sex, but it’s also possible that it’s about something else entirely (a difference in performance that you’re not aware of, a difference in responsibilities, who knows). It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. My manager is asking me for twice-a-day reporting on how I’m spending my time. My current manager has started making me do a daily “plan of day” and “end of day report” to send to him. Do you have concerns about my work or my productivity?” short answers MORE

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. Can I screen for candidates who won’t be uncomfortable with our cursing and crude jokes? I’m looking to add a new head to my department of one, most likely a recent college graduate. Being the first hiring process I will be responsible for (have assisted on a few previous interview processes with standardized questions), I’m not quite sure how to come up with questions to ensure a good cultural fit. It would seem awkward to me to ask, “how do you feel about cursing and the occasional crude joke?” Depends on the job. MORE

And if your pregnancy discrimination laws are similar to the U.S.’s, ’s, I’d say something like, “I think we’re in danger of being on the wrong side of pregnancy discrimination laws here — I’m pretty sure the law doesn’t allow pregnant women to be penalized for needing reasonable accommodation for their pregnancies. I’d like to attend, but I want to make sure there won’t be negative repercussions — formal or informal — if I’m not able to go to all the events.” It’s five answers to five questions. MORE

It sounds like your HR department agreed with you, as they should have since the way your manager wanted to handle this is coming awfully close to discriminating on the basis of religion, which is illegal. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. Manager asked about religion when I asked to take a day off. My workplace has an unfortunately named paid time off day called “Religious Day.” It’s essentially a personal day that’s granted when someone is hired, without the need for accrual. Besides the name, the staff handbook does not specify what this day is to be used for. MORE

feel as though I’m being discriminated against because I don’t have a child, and they are assuming that my time is always free. A reader writes: I joined my current team as an event coordinator about four months ago and am the sole events person on the team. The way our team is structured, we have two project managers who work on different events, managing associates who assist them with the programs, and both project managers work directly with me to plan the logistics for the events. One of the project managers, Jane, had a baby last year. Any advice? workplace practices MORE

First, I believe it’s a gift of public funds to allow employees to drink off-site while being paid, and secondly, it seems to be a clear example of religious discrimination. As for religious discrimination, holiday parties and even specifically Christmas parties aren’t considered religious discrimination under the law. It could become discrimination if the conduct at the party were particularly religious (for instance, included prayer) and people were penalized for not participating. The luncheon this year lasted three hours. workplace practices MORE

One of my coworkers is saying that this is discrimination, but I said that he does not have to give gifts to everyone and he can give gifts to whoever he wants to. Discrimination in the legal sense? It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. Who can managers talk to? One of the things I haven’t see much written about is who managers _can_ talk to about management-specific issues. Like all other humans, they need to bounce ideas off of others, discuss challenges and problems, feel connected and heard, and try out solutions. It’s got to add up. ” 3. MORE

Someone spewing hate in your office, and in an office that specifically calls for non-discrimination around gender identity, is reasonable to speak up about. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. overheard a coworker making hateful comments about Caitlyn Jenner. Today at lunchtime, I overheard the front desk worker in my office discussing with a member of our HR team the Arthur Ashe Courage Award that is being presented to Caitlyn Jenner. So what do you think I should do? Please speak up. Also, the person she was talking to was from HR? Ugh, this sucks. What do I do? MORE

That’s bad for your employer because when people think they’re being wrongly laid off, they’re much more likely to be bitter, do things like sue the company (if they start thinking that there might be discrimination or other illegal behavior involved), and generally spread discord. A reader writes: Yesterday my manager sent a message to the members of my team (teapot makers) and another team (teapot designers), whose manager just went on maternity leave, and for whom he is covering. The current Tipping Tester was included on the email, as was our HR manager. Did I miss something here? MORE

believe the problem is age discrimination, but that’s another subject. A reader writes: Here’s a new one that is baffling me. I’m seriously looking for work, and generally get called to interview every few resumes I submit. treat every interview seriously, and prepare, bring work samples, dress professionally, arrive 5 minutes early, make good eye contact, firm handshake, ask great questions (they respond with “What a good question” before answering). I’ve had practice. First was a couple who owned a company. That was borderline humiliating! try it!). MORE

Instead, they penalized you for raising a bona fide concern about discrimination. That’s a legal problem because federal law says that retaliating against you for raising a good-faith concern about discrimination is illegal — even if the original complaint is found to unwarranted. That’s because it would have a chilling effect on discrimination reports otherwise.). A reader writes: I received a dinner invitation from my “big boss,” Niles. asked about all my special projects that diversify my work and whether I could keep them. He said no. What the hell? MORE

The law doesn’t just protect people of Race X or Gender Y; it bans discrimination based on race and gender, period (as well as religion, national origin, and the other classes I listed in #3). So both men and women are equally protected from discrimination based on gender, and all races are protected from race-based discrimination, not just some races, and so forth. The only exception to this is age, where age discrimination laws only apply to people 40 and up. 6. Fired vs. laid off vs. terminated. Fired: If someone is fired, they are being let go for cause. MORE

Am I seeing discrimination where there only lies bad management? A reader writes: I am a lady-type person, and I’ve been with my tech-industry employer for about a year and a half. work in a customer-service-type role as liaison between a handful of regular customers and engineers/developers. I am one of a two-person team in this role. My previous teammate, officially the Team Lead, was part of a surprise office re-org at the end of March and moved into a different role in sales and account management. asked several times about my application during this time. However. ”). MORE

Attempts at progressive discipline/performance improvement plans were met with false claims of discrimination and/or retaliation. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. Asking whether an internal candidate will be angry that I got the job. I’m currently interviewing for a job in my field, and it’s going exceptionally well. I’ve been invited to travel to their city (at their expense) for an in-person interview, and everyone I’ve spoken with seems very interested in me and enthusiastic about my candidacy. just gave notice (2.5 Is that too weird? MORE

Bargaining power for severance typically comes in if your employer is concerned about you suing for something (like if you had cause to believe you’d been discriminated against on the basis of race, sex, or another protected characteristic — because to get severance, you a sign a general release of claims so you can’t sue in the future) or if they agree that they’ve somehow done you wrong (like if you moved to their state for the job and were laid off a month later). It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. It is not a position that I am interested in. MORE

HR? I’d actually start with HR on this one because it’s an issue of discrimination, and HR is (or should be) trained to take that seriously. I’d say this: “I’ve noticed that I’ve regularly been excluded from networking and team-building events that the men on our team are invited to, most recently the golf outing organized by Rupert. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. He advertises a service where he coaches people on doing interviews. Then there’s the creepy factor of it. Would this impress you, or creep you out? Nooo, don’t do that. Do I get it in writing? MORE

Discriminate against efficient workers; complain unjustly about their work. A reader writes: I thought you might find this old OSS/CIA manual from 1944 as interesting examples of bad management. The purpose of the manual was to instruct employees and citizens of enemy states to sabotage the enemy from within. Some of the sabotage tips sound quite familiar from some of the reader letters. Employees: Work slowly. Think of ways to increase the number of movements needed to do your job: use a light hammer instead of a heavy one; try to make a small wrench do instead of a big one. MORE

This isn’t a discrimination question, but possibly an etiquette one. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. Shaking hands when you have a cold. question you posted the other day about shaking hands got me thinking. coworker that sits in the same cube bay as me, Ann, was talking to another coworker, Fergus, and decided to introduce me in the hallway the other day. shook his hand, we had a brief conversation, and then I was leaving. honestly hadn’t thought to not shake his hand, and it wasn’t overtly obvious I was sick anymore. More here. 3. ” 5. MORE

also wonder if there’s some pay discrimination going on (weirdly, the boss seems to be biased against male employees). I’m pretty willing to take some flack from my managers over this, since I’m leaving in a month. A reader writes: I work at a retail job with mostly hourly positions and low wages. This is more or less my first “real job.” ” On the day I received my first paycheck, I had a question related to tax exemptions, so I asked a coworker, showing her my pay stub. Predictably, my manager stopped me. But I have no idea how to go about it. MORE

” * A religious accommodation that results in harassment or discrimination on the basis of sex would also constitute undue hardship. A reader writes: A while ago, my group interviewed a candidate who did not shake the hands of the women he spoke with. His explanation was that he was Muslim. Of course, this is a very specific subgroup — many Muslim men have no issue shaking hands with women, especially in a professional setting. This issue can also come up with other groups, such as certain Orthodox Jews.). learned this later (I’m male). some people have OCD). law + order MORE

you were fired for complaining about harassment or discrimination). It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. Manager says if I get a raise, fewer of my coworkers will get raises. have  a salary that’s presumably on the higher end of non-management in the department I’m in. also have about a decade or more development experience than those I work with, so my spot in the range seems justified. What’s your opinion when a manager says “You’re near the top of the range. ” He mentioned her as annoying twice. ” … and so forth. short answer MORE

My hunch here was the act of asking about memberships in outside organizations doesn’t itself violate any laws, but it’s incredibly unwise from both a management standpoint and a legal standpoint: It’s bad management because it’s going to make employees really uncomfortable if they don’t care to reveal private affiliations, and it’s legally sketchy because if it were combined with additional information, it could look like discrimination or even an attempt at union-busting (depending on the organizations someone belongs to). ” Ick. law + order MORE

How can we address the discrimination and humiliation from this supervisor? It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. I’m being fired and don’t know why. After three years of working at my company, I was told “we are not a good fit” and my last day will be July 1. They will be paying me through August 15. They have told me I can say whatever I want about my separation, and they will provide me with a good reference. (I wouldn’t plan on using my “current” employer as a reference anyway – that seems obviously weird to me.) But what do I say? MORE

Back in July of last year, the EEOC determined that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is illegal because it’s inherently discrimination because of sex. Last month, it announced that it has filed its first two discrimination cases based on sexual orientation. • So, the federal government has proposed a major change to the rules that govern who must be paid overtime. round-up: obesity, sex discrimination, and overtime pay was originally published by Alison Green on Ask a Manager There are going to be really, really big ramifications to this. MORE

She pointed out that the first issue is whether the education institution is actually exempt from Title VII’s religious discrimination requirements. If the issue is purely a religious one, and if they apply the prohibition against associating with those who do not follow your beliefs to everyone, then they may be allowed to discriminate against you based upon your association with others who violate their religious principles. If we don’t sign, we have been told that we do not have a job. feel like this is such an overreach of professional boundaries. What?! MORE

Also, you’d open yourself up to possible charges of age discrimination (especially if you haven’t pushed other employees out early when you learn that they’re, say, going back to school in a few months); you’re too small to be covered under the federal age discrimination laws, but your state laws might apply. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. Can we push a retiring employee out early? work for a small organization (only 13 employees) that is an at-will employer. Even though we are small, we have endured more than our share of turnover in the last few years (i.e., MORE