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Business Law Blog
Posts by Attorney Roger L. Pettit
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Critical Issues for Employers in the Wake of the Supreme Court Decision Upholding the Affordable Care Act, by David A. McClurg
Posted by Attorney Roger L. Pettit in Human Resources, Business Management / Comments
Now that the dust has settled on the Supreme Court’s decision largely upholding the constitutionality of the “Affordable Care Act,” or “Obamacare” as most Republican candidates are calling it, some of the important factors that employers should keep in mind for the remainder of 2012 and 2013 include:1. Small businesses with 25 or less employees that pay average annual wages below $50,000 and pay at least 50% of the total ...
Read MoreSocial Media Policies Part 2 - NLRB Issues Useful Example of Employer Policy
Posted by Attorney Roger L. Pettit in Business Management, Technology / Comments
Expanding on last week’s post, the NLRB’s memo found the following social media policies to be lawful (in addition to rules prohibiting discrimination or retaliation on social media websites that would also not be permissible in the workplace even if the behavior occurs afterhours on personal computers): First, an employer’s social media policy can require that employees are “respectful” on such sites as long as the employer's rules provide examples ...
Read MoreEmployers, Take a Good Look at your Social Media Policy
Posted by Attorney Roger L. Pettit in Human Resources, Technology / Comments
As social media participation increases, particularly Facebook and Twitter, it’s becoming more important for employers to have a social media policy in place. Equally important however, is ensuring that the policy isn’t overbroad and violates the National Labor Relations Act (“Act”). Last month the NLRB Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon issued his third report detailing seven cases of illegal or overbroad employer social media policies that violated the Act.The ...
Read MoreNLRB Continues to Target Non-Union Employers, by David McClurg
Posted by Attorney Roger L. Pettit / Comments
Despite court rulings blocking implementation of NLRB Rules requiring the posting of employee rights under the National Labor Relations Act and “quickie” union elections , Obama appointees on the NLRB continue to boldly push a blatantly pro-employee agenda designed to encourage action by non-union employees. Last week the Board launched a website specifically designed to educate employees about their right to engage in “protected concerted activities” including the ...
Read MoreSupreme Court: Pharmaceutical Reps Not Entitled to Overtime Pay under the FLSA
Posted by Attorney Roger L. Pettit in Human Resources / Comments
In Christopher et. al. v. SmithKline Beecham Corp. the Supreme Court ruled Monday that pharmaceutical representatives aren’t entitled to overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (Click on the this link for the opinion: http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/11-204.pdf). The FLSA overtime requirement does not apply to workers who are considered “outside salesmen” under 29 U.S.C. 213(a)(1). For the discussion of the definition of “outside salesmen”, see page 1 of ...
Read MoreThinking Outside the Box: Can Unusual Pro-Employee Policies Benefit the Workplace? By Roger L. Pettit
Posted by Attorney Roger L. Pettit in Employer-Employee Relationship, Human Resources, Business Management / Comments
I recently received a blog article entitled “Counter Intuitive Company Policies That Actually Work”. Please click on the following link to read the article: http://www.onlinemba.com/blog/20-counterintuitive-company-policies-that-actually-work/. In this and future posts, I intend to address a number of the twenty (20) unusual workplace policies from my perspective. I welcome your comments, pro and con, with respect to the viability of the policies.The first “Counter Intuitive” policy is the “No Vacation” policy. The ...
Read MoreNow Employers Have to Worry About the Federal Trade Commission
Posted by Attorney Roger L. Pettit in Business Management, Technology, Labor Relations / Comments
A few years back I prepared a handout for a seminar on effective employment practices. In the handout I listed what I hoped would be a complete litany of laws that affect employers and employees in the work place. The list of at least 27 different laws is reproduced below.Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as amended, 42 U.S.C. 2000(e), et. seq.;Civil Rights Act of 1991;AmericansWith Disabilities ...
Read MoreNLRB POSTING UPDATE - YOU MAY HAVE TO POST BUT THE CONSEQUENCES FOR NOT DOING SO ARE MINIMAL
Posted by Attorney Roger L. Pettit in Business Management, Labor Relations / Comments
In previous blog posts we have discussed the National Labor Relations Board’s new posting rule (the Final Rule) which has been delayed several times. The delays were, in part, because of lawsuits filed by various employer groups who challenged The Final Rule on several grounds. The primary challenges included arguments that being required to post the NLRB’s notice violated the employer’s First Amendment Rights; that the Final Rule was ...
Read MoreTHE FORBIDDEN PHRASES DON’T WORK
Posted by Attorney Roger L. Pettit in Employer-Employee Relationship, Human Resources, Business Management / Comments
In my last post I explained that using the forbidden phrases when terminating employees can foster lawsuits. Those phrases will never satisfy an opposing counsel or a fact finder in a lawsuit brought by disgruntled employees. The following fictionalized cross examinations illustrate why employers may wish they had been more forthright in the first place: Question:“Did you give Mr. Smith a reason for ...
Read MoreTHE FORBIDDEN PHRASES: How to increase the chance of litigation over an employee’s termination.
Posted by Attorney Roger L. Pettit in Employer-Employee Relationship, Human Resources, Business Management / Comments
Unless the employee is covered under a Collective Bargaining Agreement or a contract for a definite term, most states, including Wisconsin, consider the employment relationship to be at-will, i.e. an employer may terminate an employee without a defined level of “cause”. While many factors may contribute to the decision to terminate an employee, being honest and forthright in the termination process is an important consideration.No employee is ever terminated without ...
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