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Employment Law

Noncompete agreements and trade secrets

11/01/2007

Q. My company is involved in the biotech industry and regularly develops proprietary information. We currently are working with an executive search firm to find a replacement for a high-level marketing executive position. Management wants to manage the risk of disclosure of confidential information. How restrictive may the potential candidate’s noncompete agreement be, given the company’s special needs to protect trade secrets? …

Unemployment following a strike

11/01/2007

Q. We are a small, nonunion parts supplier for a large, unionized manufacturing plant. Due to an ongoing strike by our primary customer’s union, demand for our product has decreased significantly, and we are having difficulty meeting payroll. Consequently, we are preparing to lay off several of our staff. Our CFO remembered reading that in Indiana, someone who loses his job due to a strike is not eligible for unemployment compensation. But, because the only reason we are laying our people off is due to the strike at our customer’s facility, can we contest unemployment for our laid-off staff? …

‘Manager’: the most legally explosive (And expensive) word

11/01/2007

When is a manager not really a manager? Answer: When the person performs the same duties as rank-and-file workers. That seemingly obvious point is becoming an expensive one at many organizations. Caribou Coffee, for example, is defending its classification of store managers as exempt from overtime. More than 400 store managers say they perform basically the same duties as front-line baristas and are entitled to overtime pay …

Will Isiah Thomas verdict open sex harassment floodgates?

11/01/2007

You probably heard about last month’s big $11.6 million sexual harassment verdict against former basketball star and New York Knicks coach Isiah Thomas. The bad news: Your employees heard about it, too … and it planted a seed in their minds. Will they see your organization’s pockets as the path to a similar windfall? …

Basics of the FMLA: 7 steps to total compliance

11/01/2007

The Family and Medical Leave Act entitles eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year for their own “serious health condition,” care of a spouse, child or parent with a serious health condition, or for childbirth or adoption.The U.S. Labor Department recently collected 15,000 public comments about the pros and cons of the law. The department may use those comments to help develop regulations that clarify the confusing parts of the law, but no regulations are imminent …

Mandatory doctor visits: Must you pay for the time?

11/01/2007

Q. We sometimes send our employees to our company doctor. Do we have to pay employees their hourly rates for their time? Also, are we responsible for any accidents that happen on the drive? —C.C., Arizona …

Drawing the line on tardiness: the legal risks

11/01/2007

Q. We’re having tardiness and absenteeism issues with our employees. If we place an employee on probation for an excessive number of times tardy and days absent, can we require no absences at all during the probation period? —C.V., New Jersey …

You can automatically apply FMLA/CFRA leave with notice

11/01/2007

Employees who need to take time off for serious health conditions can use both federal FMLA leave and California Family Rights Act (CFRA) leave, plus other paid leave for the absences. But employers can require employees to use their available FMLA and CFRA leaves for any eligible condition, even if the employees are off on other paid leave. That way, employees aren’t eligible for more time off after they have exhausted other leave entitlements …

Supervisors need to know: don’t penalize complainers

11/01/2007

Sometimes employees file discrimination complaints just to see if their employers will retaliate in some way. Then they hit back with a retaliation claim. It’s a classic trap—and it doesn’t matter if the original complaint was weak. Don’t fall for it. Instead, make sure you treat the employee exactly as you would have if he hadn’t filed the complaint …

Make it a policy: Civil behavior required at work

11/01/2007

Although employers can’t guarantee a stress-free work environment, it makes sense to eliminate as much unpleasantness as possible. That means establishing and enforcing “no hazing” and “no public argument” rules. Urge supervisors and co-workers who act like bullies to clean up their acts …