Scottsdale Employment Law Blog

Nursing can be a highly stressful profession. During your off-hours, it's only reasonable that you might want to relax by looking at videos of cats, baby goats and other light, soothing images on social media. However, when it comes to posting things, you need to be careful of how you're representing the nursing profession, your employer and the patients with whom you interact.

Inappropriate social media posts can lead to job loss and malpractice lawsuits. They can also put your nursing license and your career in jeopardy. Other electronic communications, such as emails and texts, can also cause trouble.

As much as you enjoy your job, everyone needs a break. You may anticipate your break by preparing a lunch the night before or stocking your locker with your favorite snack. You may keep a paperback novel in your desk drawer or have a standing appointment with a co-worker to discuss last night's game.

If your Arizona employer provides a lunch break off the clock, you can consider yourself fortunate. You may not realize that there is no federal law requiring employers to allow workers to take a lunch break or a rest break during the day. While several states have passed their own laws and statues mandating time for employees to take a break, Arizona is not among them. However, when a company's policy includes breaks, the company must follow the rules of the United States Department of Labor.

Employees who are the victims of something called "constructive discharge" may not even realize it. Sometimes referred to as "constructive termination" or "corrective dismissal," it's when an employer intentionally makes working conditions so unbearable for an employee that he or she has no alternative but to quit.

It's a form of wrongful termination. Just as in traditional wrongful termination cases, an employee may be able to take legal action against the employer.

The termination of an Arizona State Parks & Trails (ASPT) employee while she taking time away from her job under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) has come under media scrutiny. The woman, who has eye cancer, has also been taking care of her elderly mother who suffers from dementia.

The 59-year-old woman, who has worked as both an outreach events coordinator and ranger for ASPT over her nearly 20-year career, says she would have been eligible to retire with full pension benefits in less than a year. That is now gone, along with her health insurance, which she'll lose at the end of June.