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Minnesota

Do I need a state-specific separation agreement?

11/11/2010
Q. I am terminating employees in three states. Is it OK for me to use my standard separation agreement in all three states?

What’s the best way to handle termination meetings?

11/11/2010
Q. I just terminated an employee and it was an ugly, public scene. Do you have any tips for making termination meetings easier?

Know the NLRA: Unionized or not, labor law applies to you

11/11/2010

The federal labor law can be a trap for the unwary—even for nonunion employers. Even if your employees don’t belong to a union, the National Labor Relations Act applies to you. For example, the National Labor Relations Board recently announced that a nonunionized employer will pay $900,000 to two fired employees to settle charges that it violated the NLRA.

EEOC: U.S. Steel blew it with random alcohol testing policy

11/11/2010
The EEOC has sued U.S. Steel—with Minnesota operations in Hibbing, Ishpeming, Keewatin and Mountain Iron—because the company’s policy of randomly testing probationary employees for alcohol allegedly violates the ADA.

Pay cut may be legit reason to quit, collect unemployment

11/11/2010
To deal with a down economy, employers sometimes cut employee pay. A significant pay reduction may be grounds for an employee to quit and collect unemployment.

Don’t automatically concede unemployment to top execs

11/11/2010
Not every employee who loses a job through no fault of his own is eligible for unemployment compensation. About 40 job classifications are ineligible—most of them highly compensated or policy-making positions.

Some public employee speech is protected but not speech that’s part of the job

11/11/2010

Some government employees mistakenly believe an employer can’t punish anything they say because the U.S. Constitution gives them the right to free speech. They’re forgetting that free speech has limits. For example, their speech is protected only if it touches on matters of public importance. And it is not protected if the speech occurs as part of their jobs.

RIF might affect employees serving in military? Don’t hold missed training against them

11/11/2010

Watch out if you’re contemplating a layoff that could involve employees who have recently returned from active duty in the armed forces. If those employees missed any training, and you plan to use training as one of the criteria for deciding which employees to retain, you run the risk of violating USERRA.

Despite recent 8th Circuit ruling, stamp out ‘equal-opportunity harassment’ to keep harmony

11/11/2010

Here’s some food for thought: Failing to stop an employee from harassing women and men alike may be legally acceptable, but is probably still ill-advised. An employer that allows such conduct may escape legal liability, but that tolerance may make the workplace unattractive to good employees. Plus, it probably won’t be as productive as it would be with good anti-harassment policies in place.

3M will steer retirees off its health plan, into Medicare

11/11/2010

Citing a projected rise in health insurance costs following enactment of the health care reform law, 3M has announced it will soon drop retirees from its own health coverage and instead pay them to sign onto Medicare-backed insurance.