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Employment Law

Employee or independent contractor? Control is key issue

02/01/2008

Employees are entitled to minimum wage and overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Independent contractors are not. That difference can save companies hundreds of thousands of dollars on their labor budgets—but only if they really are using independent contractors. But if those “independent contractors” are actually employees, they can sue for unpaid wages and overtime …

Maintaining employee’s dignity is key to avoiding constructive discharge

02/01/2008

Often, constructive discharge cases grow out of a disciplinary process rife with harassment. An employee may suspect that his employer is trying to get him to quit. If a jury agrees, that can mean a large damage award. To cut the risk, have HR administer any discipline, and do so in private and in a way that preserves the employee’s dignity …

If you ignore legal notice, you lose

02/01/2008

Ignoring any legal papers that land on the receptionist’s desk may spell big trouble. If you don’t answer a lawsuit in time, whoever filed the lawsuit gets an automatic win …

Parks manager pleads guilty to downloading child porn

02/01/2008

Hillsborough County Parks Manager Thomas Goins is in jail after pleading guilty to downloading child pornography. A co-worker who found disturbing images on Goins’ work laptop alerted authorities …

Jacksonville pastor faces sexual misconduct charges—Again

02/01/2008

Darrell Gilyard, head of 700-member Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church, is in hot water for a second time over charges of sexual misconduct with members of his flock …

Court reverses Siplin’s campaign misconduct conviction

02/01/2008

A state appeals court has overturned a felony theft conviction against state Sen. Gary Siplin, ruling that an Orlando jury wrongly convicted him of having employee Naomi Cooper do campaign work on state time …

Now is the time to develop a comprehensive whistle-Blower policy

02/01/2008

Although Florida’s state whistle-blower law applies only to state government and state contractors, don’t believe you are above the law just because you are a private employer. Rather than ignore a complaint—and risk expensive litigation—you need to establish policies to investigate whistle-blower complaints …

NLRB: You can ban union talk in employees’ e-mail

02/01/2008

The National Labor Relations Board dealt a big defeat to unions recently by ruling that employers can ban their employees from using company e-mail for union-related business …

EEOC record race-Bias case sends ‘Powerful message’

02/01/2008

Lockheed Martin agreed last month to pay $2.5 million to settle a race discrimination suit brought by a black employee who was subjected to racist graffiti and oral harassment, including use of the “n” word and threats of lynching. The settlement is the largest award ever obtained by the EEOC for a single person in a race-bias case …

Payroll blunder leads to big payday for Hurricane Katrina workers

02/01/2008

Two companies providing services in the Hurricane Katrina recovery have agreed to pay a total of nearly $1 million to settle claims that nearly 400 workers weren’t paid fairly for their overtime hours …