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Employment Law

Starbucks settles overtime suit

04/07/2008
Starbucks recently settled a lawsuit brought by assistant store managers who had accused the coffee company of denying them overtime wages in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Judge Keith Ellison of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas approved the settlement …

Landscape changing for noncompete agreements in Texas

04/07/2008
A year and a half ago, the Texas Supreme Court clarified whether employers may require new and existing employees to sign noncompete agreements without changing their at- will status. The court concluded they can—as long as the employer provides proper consideration in return …

Wage-and-Hour, on-Call and mileage issues for ‘Exempt’ workers

04/07/2008
Q. I own a home-health agency. Although my licensed vocational nurses are paid by the visit, my registered nursing staff is considered management. They are salaried. Are we lawfully required to pay our RNs “on-call” pay or mileage? Although it’s not documented as such, we have taken these things into consideration when setting their salaries …

Inequitably reducing or denying bonus may be retaliation

04/01/2008
As employers, we would like to think employees would be grateful for bonuses no matter the amount. But employees may perceive a smaller than expected bonus (or a bonus denied) as retaliation for engaging in protected activity …

Include staff self-Assessment in evaluation process

04/01/2008
When an employee sues for an alleged discriminatory firing, the court will want to see the employee’s evaluation. A sterling evaluation and high praise quickly cast doubt on a termination supposedly based on poor performance. How, then, can you encourage honest evaluations? Have employees identify their own weaknesses and address those in their performance evaluations …

Rolled eyes may be rude, but they’re not retaliation

04/01/2008
When employees raise the same gripes over and over, it’s sometimes hard to take them seriously. It can be particularly frustrating if those complaints include discrimination claims, when management is sure no discrimination has taken place. Aggravated bosses, take heart! It may not be a management best practice to show your frustration with baseless complaints, but it isn’t likely to lead to a retaliation lawsuit …

Contract disclaimers in handbooks preserve at-Will status

04/01/2008
While employee handbooks are essential, be careful. If they are worded improperly, they can tie employers’ hands—and may even create employment contracts that remove the at-will status that allow employees to be terminated for any legal reason …

Involved in pre-Termination hearing? Follow the rules

04/01/2008
Here’s a worry for public employees who find themselves assigned to participate in pre-termination hearings: If you don’t follow the hearing rules, you just might lose the qualified immunity you ordinarily have for employment decisions—and wind up being sued personally …

Even vague EEOC complaints can get a trial

04/01/2008
Courts generally bend over backward to make sure employees get their day in court. Employers can’t count on courts to toss out vague complaints. That’s why it pays to take every EEOC complaint seriously. As soon as you get wind of a complaint, contact your attorneys right away …

All other things being equal, bad attitude may be justification for layoff

04/01/2008
Ordinarily, employers should be leery of considering subjective factors when making employment decisions. Objective measures such as surpassing sales quotas, meeting quantitative goals and finishing assigned projects are the best measures for gauging employees. But sometimes you have to make tough decisions …