Q. My department recently received a “litigation hold letter” from an attorney’s office. It instructed us not to delete or destroy any documents belonging to a former employee of ours. That employee has not worked here for nearly three years. As far as we can tell, she is not suing us—she left here on good terms. It appears that this litigation hold letter is tied to a case against another company. While we have a few documents related to this person’s employment, the significant majority of her personnel documents were destroyed through our normal record-retention process. Are we required to comply with this litigation hold letter even though we are not the target of a lawsuit? If so, what can we do about the documents already deleted?

Q. My company owns a large manufacturing facility in Georgia. I’m familiar with federal requirements, but does Georgia provide for record-keeping requirements under state fair employment practice laws? ...

The Boy Scout motto, “Be prepared,” applies to employers, too. You simply never know when—or why—a fired employee will sue. But you don’t have much to worry about if you have processes in place to make sure each and every disciplinary decision is fair and rational ...

Sometimes, it seems employees and their lawyers can take even the most innocent event or evidence and find a way to twist it into a discrimination case. That’s why it’s important for employers to have solid reasons for all decisions. You never know when someone is going to second-guess you ...

Q. A former employee wants copies of 18-months' worth of e-mails. That would be an enormous undertaking. Do we have to honor the request? ...

Gov. Ted Strickland has ordered the Ohio Department of Safety to stop destroying records about employee misconduct and discipline. The request came after the Columbus Dispatch sought records concerning the discipline of a state trooper ...

When discrimination charges go to court, both sides are entitled to copies of all relevant evidence. That includes memos, notes and e-mail (with some exceptions for confidential, trade secret or attorney-client privileged communications). Don’t think you’ll be able to avoid liability by getting rid of some documents ...

FMLA certification forms are pretty simple—until complications arise. What kind of complications? How about an invoice from an employee's doctor demanding that you pay the bill for filling out the form? Do employers have to pay? It depends.

Q. A former supervisor is the subject of an ongoing sexual harassment and retaliation investigation. He is asking to view his personnel records. The records contain the details of the retaliation complaint. Does he have the right to review his own personnel file? ...

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) last month debuted the FirstStep Recordkeeping, Reporting and Notices Advisor, an online tool that helps employers determine which federal laws, record-keeping requirements and poster rules apply to them ...