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Minnesota

Personal business at work? That’s misconduct

02/20/2013
Employees who violate rules against doing personal business at work are engaging in misconduct. That can make them ineligible for unemployment compensation benefits.

Beware firing for ‘spreading rumors’ about bias

02/20/2013
Bosses may not like it, but em­­ployees have the right to complain about their working conditions. Characterizing those complaints as unfounded gossip doesn’t change that—and should never be a reason for termination …

Twin Cities concert halls silent as musician lockouts continue

02/20/2013
Minnesota’s quiet winter may become a silent spring if labor disputes continue for two of the state’s premier orchestras. Management teams at both the Minnesota Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra have locked out musicians after the parties failed to agree on new contracts.

Simply declaring employees are contractors won’t change status

02/20/2013
Before you decide to convert employees to independent contractors, remember that it isn’t the label that counts, but the actual work per­­formed. Calling someone an independent contractor doesn’t make him one.

Economic conditions require worker layoffs? Be honest about reason for termination

02/20/2013
No one wants to have to explain why an employee just lost her job. But passing the buck and coming up with inconsistent excuses are the worst possible approaches. Instead, make sure the information comes from one source—preferably HR—and stick with a defensible reason.

ADA: Firing OK if health problem is minor

02/20/2013
Firing someone because you be­­lieve he has a disability violates the ADA under some circumstances, but not all. If the disabling condition is transitory and minor, you can terminate without violating the ADA.

Ask your attorney about class-action waivers

02/20/2013
The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that an employee who previously agreed to waive her right to file a class-action overtime lawsuit does indeed have to rely on individual arbitration of her claim.

Background checks: How safe is too safe?

01/11/2013

Q. We are considering instituting a criminal background check policy for all employee positions. We’ve heard scary stories of lawsuits regarding negligent hiring, and we’d really like to avoid that sort of litigation, not to mention the negative media attention. Is there any downside to having an “across the board” criminal background check policy?

Do we need to track hours for pieceworkers?

01/11/2013

Q. We are doing an internal review of our recordkeeping, and we realized that we track hours for our on-site transcriptionists but we have not been tracking the hours for our transcriptionists who work from home. The on-site employees are non­exempt and we pay them an hourly wage. However, the remote employees are paid piece rates—a certain rate for the number of words transcribed from dictation. Do we have to keep track of their hours?

How to cope with dope: Marijuana & the Minnesota workplace

01/11/2013
Minnesota employers are stuck in the middle of the battle between state and federal law. The tension may create confusion for employers trying to legally enforce their policies, including drug-free workplace policies.