Recent Articles & News
Employment agreements – what to do before you do
August 17th, 2018Employment Agreements should be called Agreement Employment Agreements because the agreement comes before there is employment for use after employment.
Here are five factors you should consider (so maybe they should be called Consider 5 Agreements Employment Agreements):
- complexity
- restrictive covenants
- term of employment
- change in control
- post-termination
Background checks of the future are continuous
August 16th, 2018If continuous background checks are in your future, you need to consider the following in the now:
- You get what you pay for - and you can't always get what you want, or so say The Stones.
- Cost/benefit - worth the time/effort?
- Consent / legal compliance issues - is consent continuous as well?
- Policies and practices in place? - sure, right, you already have everything in place. Right?
Treating service animal requests (always treat the animal)
August 14th, 2018Service animal pop quiz (yes/no):
- The ADA permits assistance dogs to be with their person where members of the public can go (yes)
- The ADA requires service dogs to be professionally trained (no)
- Minature horses are covered under the ADA and Great Danes can be the size of miniature horses (yes and yes - I saw two at the dog park last night)
Peter Petesch at our partner Littler, suggests, among other things in this SHRM article, covering the following when handling service animal requests:
- it's an accommodation request
- alternatives?
- doctor's note?
- confidentiality!
- what are the ground rules?
And for those of you in Philadelphia, a BONUS Littler workshop on September 6, Doggy Dilemmas: Accommodating Service Animals for Employees and Customers, complete with a demonstration from Canine Companion's assistance dog Mork.
Prepare for saying "No" – you need to decide how to refuse service
August 10th, 2018A customer is asked to leave a restaurant because of their political affiliation. A baker refuses to make a wedding cake for a gay couple. A cashier won't check a customer out because of the t-shirt the customer is wearing.
Quoting David Byrne: "And you may ask yourself, well, how did I get here?"
To which Benjamin Franklin might respond: "By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail."
So, go Boy Scout and be prepared.
List 10 up: What's the deal with employee handbook rules?
August 9th, 2018PODCAST
Spend 20 minutes with Ruthie Goodboe from our author Ogletree Deakins as she discusses employer work rules and employee handbook policies and practices in the podcast What's the deal with employee handbook rules?
List 10 up:
- covers union AND non-union workers
- employees raising concerns/complaints
- enforcement/implementation of the rules
- does any rule implemented by an employer not infringe on an employee's rights?
- good news for employers - a balancing test justification vs. employee rights
- 3 new categories of work rules and are they retroactive?
- reasons for rules
- unwritten practices
- articulate justification of rule in the rule itself?
- buy-in from workforce
Workplace Events & Announcements
Answers to contractor's frequently asked questions on filing VETS-4212 reports event
August 23rd, 2018 at 1:00pm CDT by Ogletree Deakinshrsimple's YouTube Channel announcement
If you've missed any of our webinar's, head over to our YouTube page to catch-up on the last employment law trends and training.
