E
advertisement
Employment Law | New Year’s Resolutions January 2008 Employment Law Practice Group Happy New Year! Our employment law team wishes you great success in the new year! Based on our experience and what we expect to see this year, we would like to share our Top Ten Employers’ Resolutions for 2008. Please contact us for legal advice and support throughout the coming year. With warmest regards, Kennedy Covington’s Employment Law Team Amie Bev Andy Bo Felicia Dan Russ Missy Top Ten Employers’ Resolutions That You Can Keep in 2008! To Be Exempt or Not To Be Exempt: Resolve to review and update job qualifications and job descriptions to ensure your exempt employees qualify for exemptions under the FLSA. Avoid the risk of a Department of Labor investigation or employee collective action lawsuit. Money, Money, Money!: Resolve to put your employees’ commission and bonus plans in writing to ensure compliance with wage and hour laws. Prevent your employees from recovery of double, or even triple, damages under North and South Carolina’s wage and hour laws. In late 2006, an employee in South Carolina recovered over $50,000 in commissions and triple damages, even though the commissions did not arise until months after he resigned from the company. North Carolina courts have reached similar results, including upholding one employee’s recovery of over a million dollars in commissions after departing his company. Shhhh! I Have a Secret … : Resolve to take action to preserve your company’s trade secret and confidential information by ensuring that employees are specifically instructed as to what is confidential. Protect your information from departing rogue employees (and their new employers) or from inadvertent disclosures. If you do not take measures to identify information that is “confidential” or “secret” and communicate that to employees when it is disseminated, a North or South Carolina judge may agree with your former employees that the information is not confidential and, therefore, subject to disclosure. But I Don’t Want to Wear a Hard Hat: Resolve to ensure your company is complying with OSHA rules and protecting your employees. Be ready when OSHA drops in for a surprise inspection. Those Are My Customers and These Employees are Coming with Me!: Resolve to revamp your employment agreements and non-competition and non-solicitation provisions to maximize the protections allowed under the law and to maintain the continuity of your business. Avoid losing your customers and employees along with your best employee. I Think I Read Something About That … : Resolve to create a checklist for preparing and maintaining employee I-9 forms and for ensuring you comply with the changing immigration landscape. Be ready if the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) Unit surprises your workplace with a visit. ICE arrested over 30,000 illegal aliens last fiscal year--many during workplace raids-which is more than double the number made the previous year. Since They Aren’t My Employees, It Doesn’t Matter What I Do, Right?: Resolve to learn the potential pitfalls of hiring independent contractors, lending employees, and using staffing companies. Employers too often pay the price to these “non-employees” (and to Uncle Sam) by making these issues a low priority. Technology is My Friend, Right?: Resolve to review your policies addressing technology and internet issues. For example, investigate telecommuting arrangements with employees to increase productivity and to keep good talent, but also learn the many traps in such arrangements lurking within the workers’ compensation and wage and hour worlds. Also, create employer-friendly internet and e-mail privacy policies so employees know they are using your property and are being monitored. So Many Records, So Little Time: Resolve to maintain records about your employees, including telecommuters and exempt employees, to ensure you can show a DOL or EEOC investigator what your employees are doing, how many of them you have each week, and where they are working. Avoid fines and prosecution by government officials for record-keeping violations or for failure to identify all employees during an investigation. Why Can’t I Just Check His Credit and His Criminal Background Without Telling Him?: Resolve to create a checklist for your background checks to ensure they comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act. This statute demands employers conduct background checks in a particular fashion yet is often forgotten by, or may even be unknown to, many employers. Our employment law team provides advice and representation with respect to the unique and varied employee-related issues our clients face in an ever-changing work force. We work in partnership with our clients to help them with dayto-day guidance and disputes that lead to litigation. Our attorneys utilize their experience in litigating a wide variety of matters and resolving disputes in an expedient and cost-effective manner. This bulletin is published as a service to clients and others interested in employment issues. The information provided herein is general in nature and should not be relied upon as legal advice as to specific factual situations. Employment Law Practice Group Amie Flowers Carmack Beverly A. Carroll Andrew M. Habenicht Glenn E. Ketner, III (“Bo”) Felicia Washington Mauney Daniel J. Palmieri Russell F. Sizemore Shannon S. Spainhour (“Missy”) 919.743.7318 704.331.7586 704.331.7594 704.331.7580 704.331.7466 919.743.7317 704.331.7514 704.331.7411 Kennedy Covington is one of the largest law firms in the Carolinas with offices in Charlotte, Raleigh, Research Triangle Park, Columbia and Rock Hill. Our attorneys use their diverse experience and knowledge to counsel clients in varied industries such as banking and finance, real estate, technology, health care, manufacturing, and the services sector. At Kennedy Covington, we give more than a legal opinion; we provide a business perspective. Charlotte Office: Hearst Tower, 47th Floor 214 North Tryon Street Charlotte, NC 28202 704-331-7400 www.kennedycovington.com © Copyright 2008 Kennedy Covington Raleigh Office: 4350 Lassiter at North Hills Avenue Suite 300 Raleigh, NC 27609 919-743-7300
