Fortenberry v. Gemstone FoodsIf one of your employee suffers an “adverse” outcome, don’t be surprised after the fact by a supervisor who struggles to “yeah, but…” for a valid reason. In Fortenberry v. Gemstone Foods, you’ll find a road map for how not to manage an otherwise salaried workforce. The production managers, maintenance managers andContinue reading Land Shark … I Mean, Candygram!
Back three years ago, I warned how you could accidentally have the National Labor Relations Board come a’knockin’ on your door even if your workplace is not unionized. Now that Obama is gone and Trump is in, perhaps you were thinking that this is no longer a concern. If you were thinking that, you’d beContinue reading Yes, Even the Trump NLRB…
The fight is continuing for former employees who claim the State of Michigan’s algorithm did them harm. For you? Don’t blindly trust the robots. Office automation is great, don’t get me wrong. But you need to test, to audit. Just as you would with a human employee.
The US Dept of Labor (USDOL) recently scrapped the 2010-era six-factor rigid test, in favor of a seven-factor flexible test that two influential courts of appeal promulgated. Don’t be fooled though — if you’re not paying interns who are doing work that you’d otherwise be paying a real employee (or real vendor or subcontractor) toContinue reading When Is An Unpaid Intern Not?
For those of you who have employees and customers (yes, that means all of you), regardless of whether you have a separate HR department or if you’re wearing all of those hats as owner, the Society for Human Resource Management (“SHRM”) should be something you belong to. And, no, I get nothing for plugging SHRMContinue reading SHRM’s Sexual Harassment Pop-Quiz
Just as pleading that the dog ate your homework, you won’t get far with a judge by pleading that you never received an important legal notice because it must have gone to the spam folder. In Emerald Coast Utilities v. Bear Marcus Pointe, the utility ended up having to pay BMP’s legal fees not becauseContinue reading The Spam Filter Dog Ate Your E-Mail Notice
Like a good horror movie, complying with US immigration laws can seem like a nightmare. in The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (“IRCA”) requires every employer to verify the eligibility of most of its workers. The “most” part might be startling to you? Yes, most and not all. If you have someone on your payrollContinue reading Dreamers, Nightmares, I-9 Forms, DACA and ICE
You’ve probably seen clever musings about the need for commas. “Let’s eat, Grandma!” versus “let’s eat Grandma” goes from joyful to dreadful, all for want of a lowly comma. In O’Connor v. Oakhurst Dairy, the lowly comma brought down a giant. Maine’s overtime statute says that the employer doesn’t have to pay overtime for peopleContinue reading Packing a Punch(tuation)
Remember those updates to the overtime pay threshold that we were all wringing our hands about? (It’s back here if you’d like to remember what you were supposed to remember). A few things have happened since then. One, a Texas judge issued a national injunction barring blocking the US Dept of Labor’s overtime rules fromContinue reading Nevermind…
Ew, ick, right? Sharing a toothbrush… Sharing login credentials should generate the same kind of “ew ick” response if you want to make sure you don’t end up in federal prison for violation of the things like the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) or the Economic Espionage Act (EEA). If your company subscribes toContinue reading Don’t Share a Toothbrush… or Your Login Credentials
