Pennsylvania Employment Legal Questions

You are likely non-exempt meaning you should be entitled to be paid minimum wage and overtime for hours worked.  Your employer is entitled to take a tip credit against your hourly rate. without seeing the paystub and knowing more about your work, its difficult to advise you for certain. ... Read More

If you feel that you are owed unpaid wages, you can file a law suit with a local magistrate. You can also file a complaint with the PA department of labor, wage and hour division.  As to unpaid vacation time, whether you can get that depends on your employer's written policy concerning payment for accrued but unused vacation pay.  There is no law entitling you to this. ... Read More

Have you filed for unemployment compensation benefits?  The employer is required to respond to that filing.  You'll get a written answer soon after you file.  If you are receive benefits that is proof positive that you are no longer employed.  Your employer is not required to give you a letter saying that you are terminated. ... Read More

If you have something signed by the employee permitting you to make deductions from pay to pay back the loan, then you can make a deduction from the last pay.  However,  you cannot deduct so that the employee's effective rate of pay is below minimum wage.  If that doesn't get you paid back in full, your recourse is to collect it from the employee directly. ... Read More

Your classification as an employee for wage purposes is not something you and your employer can agree to.  Your classification is determined by an application of your actual job duties to the language of the applicable law.  There can certainly be gray area.  I'm not aware of any precedent concerning utilization review nurses but perhaps that exists and would inform your proper classification. An attorney could research that for you.  Or you could file a complaint with the department of labor for misclassification and they could investigate it.  Your employer cannot terminate you for filing the complaint -- that would be unlawful but it won't make for a comfortable employer/employee relationship going forward. ... Read More

That's a tough situation because rocking the boat can jeopardize his job (not that it should be jeopardized but that's just reality).  I'm sure the problem will get solved with time -- clearly a snafu that is abnormal.  If he can't be patient, then he can continue with persistence or he can file a claim with the PA Dept of Labor wage/hour division.  That won't necessarily make a solution happen faster.  He can file a claim against FedEx with the local magistrate as well to seek unpaid wages under state and federal law.  ... Read More

Who have you asked and why have you been unable to obtain them?  I'm assuming that there are air quality reports (are you certain air quality is being tested?).  You can probably submit a reqeust for the records via the PA Open Records system.  You can find details and instructions here:  http://www.openrecords.pa.gov/... Read More

Yes, its possible.  I'm not sure whether the finding of "not guilty" was in a criminal proceeding or not but if your employer had a reasonable basis to suspend, that will probably stand.  of course, if you have a contract, I'd defer to the contents of the contract for an answer to the situation.... Read More

What I think you are saying is that you worked through all or some portion of your lunch breaks. If that's the case, then yes you are entitled to be paid.  It doesn't matter that your employer requires you to take the breaks.  If they know that you didn't take them, they must pay you.  they can enforce their break rule and, if you violate it, they can take remedial action against you.  But you are entitled to be paid for all time worked. ... Read More

I'll say right off that a lawsuit is not an appropriate remedy here.  You should ask your manager to stop making those statements. That might resolve the issue.  Perhaps he/she thought they were being funny and, if informed that you are bothered, would readily stop making the comments.  If that doesn't work, take it up with someone above your manager's head or your HR department.  A lawsuit isn't going to really solve this problem.  Do you really think suing your manager is a good idea? ... Read More

Since you arelady work there, perhaps the VA has some internal guidelines that would help you.  I'd suggest that you make inquiries internally with HR to see what your options are.  I doubt you have a case otherwise.  There is no law that pertains to merit-based hiring generally.... Read More

I'd say yes, for sure. The note might not be specific enough.  It might be stale-dated.  Might be from a doctor who doesn't customarily treat your condition (like getting a dentist to give you a note for a mental condition).  In any event, your employer might not be obligated to give you time off, modify or hold your position due to a medical condition.  You'd need to provide addl facts to get a more specific answer.... Read More

My pat answer to this is "anyone can sue anyone".  There is nothing to stop someone from filing a lawsuit.  If filed, you'll have to defend.  Maybe the case is so scurrilous that you'll be able to get the court to award you sanctions but that's rare.  People make threats all the time and often don't follow up on them.  Just make sure that you're doing everything you are supposed to do when terminating an employee so as to reduce the chances that she has a legit claim against you.  If you're not certain what you should be doing, I'd advise consulting with an attorney to get specific advice. Probably money well-spent if it helps you avoid defending a suit. ... Read More

Its not quite clear what kind of account to which you are referring.  If its a bank account, you might open a new LLC account and start using that for all LLC business.  If the bank won't let you close out the other account, let the bank know what's going on -- maybe also let your partner know there's no more money going into the prior account. ... Read More

I'd suggest that you go to your place of employment and ask to speak with whomever makes the decision you are seeking.  it's more difficult to put you off if you are physically present and awaiting an answer.  If you still can't get an answer, then you should file for unemployment compensation. ... Read More