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Employment Contracts

Mandatory arbitration: 7 ways to make it stick in court

04/01/2006

More employers are requiring employees to solve employment disputes through arbitration. But courts are quick to invalidate mandatory arbitration agreements that don’t meet the letter of the law. Don’t back off mandatory arbitration because of legal uncertainties; just make sure to follow these seven rules …

Accruing sick leave during workers’ comp leave

04/01/2006

Q. One of our employees is out on workers’ comp. Our contract says “no sick time will be lost or deducted” while employees are out on workers’ comp. But now he wants to know if he continues to accrue sick time and holiday pay while not working. Does he? —J.S., Michigan

Nonrenewal of Contract After Whistle-Blowing May Be Illegal

03/01/2006

Don’t assume that just because you hire people as independent contractors, you can’t be liable for wrongful termination if you don’t renew their contracts. As a new court ruling shows, if an employee blows the whistle about some potentially illegal activity at your workplace, you could trigger a retaliation lawsuit by failing to renew his or her contract …

Beware false promises in handbooks; explain ‘what,’ not ‘why’

02/01/2006

Just the facts, ma’am. Your employee handbooks should clearly state your organization’s rules and benefits without including any excess or superfluous language. If you embellish the document with needless explanations, you may end up eating your words …

Know the ‘Cooling Off’ Period for Age-Bias Waivers

01/01/2006

Q. Can you tell me if there’s a law that says a 45-day waiting period must exist from the time employees are told they’ll be laid off until they receive the severance payment? Supposedly, this is called a cooling-off period. Is this a federal law? —T.M., Pennsylvania

Learn to spot staff plotting to become competitors

11/01/2005
You may already require key employees to sign noncompete agreements and/or no-moonlighting policies. But even the best of those “paper handcuffs” can’t bring your business back if a defecting employee is determined to compete against you.

Turn to Last-Chance Agreements for Legal Leverage

10/01/2005

Many employers use "last-chance agreements" to give employees one final opportunity to turn around attendance, productivity and attitude problems. Here’s good news if you use last-chance agreements on employees with drug and alcohol problems: The ADA and many state laws give you the leverage to keep employees clean … and fire them if they’re not …

Continued employment enough to bind employees to noncompete pact

10/01/2005
You may be afraid that your top salesperson or IT whiz is about to jump ship to the competition, but you failed to sign those employees to noncompete agreements when you …

Converting staff to contractors isn’t bias, but do it correctly

10/01/2005
Terminating a class of employees and offering them to return as independent contractors can save you thousands. But it may raise eyebrows. That’s why, to avoid lawsuits under the Age Discrimination …

Know the 5 ‘musts’ for age-discrimination waivers

10/01/2005
Issue: Very precise wording is needed when employees waive their rights to sue for age discrimination.
Risk: Employers often treat age-bias waivers like any other waiver, a critical mistake that …