Q. We have an experienced employee who is not working at an acceptable pace. We need to address his speed, but we're concerned he may have medical issues. Can we ask him about his health? – Anonymous, Illinois

Q. We are a not-for-profit business league. We use an independent contractor for most of our government affairs programs. The IC has his own employees. The contract cost is around one-third of our entire annual budget. Many of our volunteers want to know where all this money goes. My boss tells committee members that they (and we) have no right to know the details because he's an independent contractor. I don't agree with this. My boss says us having these details and being able to account for the $1 million in expenses will undo the IC status. Is this true? – Becky, Nevada

Q. One of our employees has a full-time job with us, yet he also works various part time hourly jobs (unrelated to the full-time position) for the same employer. Must the employee be paid overtime? Is there any difference in the answer if the full-time job is exempt from Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)?  – Kathryn, New York

Q. After hiring a new employee in November 2011, she developed serious back trouble that was not work-related. She would come to work in obvious pain and taking pain medication. Most of her admin job involved sitting down, however there was filing, and trips to the Fedex box and normal movement that she was having difficulty doing. One weekend in January, her mother called to tell me the employee was in the emergency room unable to move. She has not returned since and her doctor placed her on total disability. We have had to hire someone in order to operate our seven-employee business. So, what are my obligations to her legally after three months of employment?  I would like to tell her there is no position here for her. - Tom, California

Q. I have a key maintenance employee on workers’ compensation since April 3, 2012. He was released to light duty on April 12 to a sedentary/sitting limitation, which we did not have available for his position. When should I start him on FMLA ... or can I? He is scheduled to go back to the doctor this week. I don't anticipate him being released to work. If the doctor does not release him at that time, after 12 weeks of FMLA can he be terminated while still on workers’ comp? Not having our maintenance person available is causing a hardship on the facility, so how long can he be on workers’ comp before I can hire a replacement? – Stacey, Kentucky

Q. We operate five personal care homes in Kentucky. State regulations say we must provide 24-hour continuous supervision for residents. Is it legal to create a policy that requires our employees to stay over on the their shift if the person replacing them on the next shift is a no-call, no-show? If we can, do we just introduce this as a new policy to our current employees? – Stacey, Kentucky

Q. Our company allows employees to accrue sick/PTO time weekly, up to 40 hours per year. Our policy says this time doesn't carry over into the next year and is not paid out upon termination. We have allowed employees to borrow against future time when needed. My question: If an employee has borrowed against her sick/PTO time and then leaves the company, are we allowed to deduct the borrowed time from her last paycheck? – Donna, Kentucky

Q. Our organization has not been tracking FMLA leaves. In the past, FMLA is only discussed after an employee exhausts all sick, vacation and personal leave time. Going forward, we would like to verify and document absences of more than 10 days (after determining that the absence is due to a FMLA eligible event) even when the employee does not request it. When we become aware of an extended absence, we will notify the employee that they are using FMLA leave concurrently with their paid time as of the date of the notification. Is this procedure compliant with FMLA regulations and a best practice? – Kathryn, New York

Q. Can I terminate an employee who, for the past year, has been working a light-duty position due to a work-related injury? His most recent medical documentation states he has reached "Maximum Medical Improvement" and will not be able to do his regular-duty job. Since we are unionized, I cannot keep him in the light-duty job without offering it to senior employees. And I have no other jobs that fit within his physical capacity. Can I terminate? – Lisa, Pennsylvania

Q. My understanding is that teachers, by the nature of the definition of "Learned Professional Employees," would be exempt employees. Under the salary test “Employees earning less than $23,660 annually (or $455 a week) now automatically qualify for overtime pay.” How does this apply to a teacher who is paid for a nine-month work year? Do I assume that using the salary test of $455/week applies to their nine-month contract? Thus, if they are paid $455 for 38 weeks of employment for a total of $17,290 they qualify as exempt? – Von, Oregon

Q. I am a multi-state employer with operations in Oklahoma. Oklahoma's Standards for Workplace Drug & Alcohol Testing Act (40-561), states that “Employers may not drug test employees unless the employer offers an EAP who provide dependency evaluation and counseling.” The act says the EAP can be in-house or outsourced. If we do this, would there be specified training or certification needed to comply with the act? – Charlie, Arkansas

Q. We have a six-month introductory period for all new hires and PTO accrues during this time. But employees aren’t eligible to use it until they complete the six-month period. Can an exempt employee be docked pay if they want a vacation day or sick day during this time? Or, after the six-month introductory period, if an exempt employee has exhausted his PTO accrual, can he be docked pay? – Mike, Kansas

Q. How is it possible to get out of an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) claim [i.e., a claim alleging that the employee was subjected to unlawful discrimination, harassment, and/or retaliation] even if the employee has tape recordings to prove their claim? Can we prolong the process so the time can run out or is there no time limit in how long the EEOC waits for a position statement from us? We just want to ignore it and hope it goes away. – Anonymous, Indiana

Q. Recently, we did an exhaustive investigation to determine who damaged a piece of company property. Several people had access to the property, but the investigation narrowed down to one person. Everyone else, except this person, had witnesses to corroborate their statements that they didn’t damage the property. When interviewed, the person in question changed his story on three separate occasions. The company has decided to terminate this employee. He is the shop steward for the union, so it's likely to get ugly. What are your thoughts? – Supervisor, West Virginia

Q. I am a supervisor and I do what I'm told by my boss. But I am a little scared daily because the union president and my boss are good friends. They both don't like a certain employee and are working together to try to get the person fired. Do you think we should stop helping the union at this point because the employee filed FDR charges against the union but not against us yet? Will we get caught compromising with the union vice president under the table? I have told so many lies because my boss told me to and they are trying to build a case against the employee. What should I do? – Henry, Indiana