HR Compliance

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Almost every nonunion company’s employee handbook has the standard clause: employment is at-will.  This indisputably is a permissible term of employment, right?  The answer to that question depends on how the policy is phrased.   According to recent pronouncements from the NLRB, if a “reasonable employee” could read such a policy as making unionization futile, then…

Most companies know that it is critical to have a harassment policy.  The U.S. Supreme Court has held that an effective harassment policy can help an employer avoid liability, where the policy is communicated to employees but the employees fail to follow the policy’s complaint procedure.  The communication and content of the policy is essential…

On October 1, 2012, Maryland’s first-in-the-nation law prohibiting employers from requiring – or even requesting – that employees provide pass codes to personal websites and devices took effect.  Colloquially, this is the “Facebook Privacy Right.”  Employers that fail to hire an applicant or discipline or discharge an employee for refusing to disclose a personal pass…

Do you think it could possibly violate any law to require at-will non-union employees to sign a confidentiality agreement prohibiting disclosure outside the company of information relating to customers, marketing procedures, costs, prices, business plans, computer and software systems, and “personnel information and documents?” If you answered “of course not!” you would be WRONG under…

An employee has requested a religious accommodation – do you need to grant it?  Federal and state anti-discrimination laws require employers to provide reasonable accommodation for the religious practices and beliefs of employees, but relieves companies of the obligation if doing so will cause an undue hardship on the business.

Accommodations might include modified schedules,…

MYOB about my Facebook Page!!  That is what the Maryland General Assembly said when it recently passed legislation barring employers from requiring employees or applicants to turn over passwords needed to access social media and other private websites.  Governor Martin O’Malley is expected to sign the bill, which will take effect on October 1, 2012. …

A cautionary tale about workplace relationships comes out of Pittsburgh this week

The sordid story involves the – now former – CEO of Highmark, 58-year-old Dr. Ken Melani. A well-respected figure in the community, Dr. Melani was riding high – CEO of a major, national company, and a $4.3 million dollar salary to boot. But,…

Employers and individuals often seek to call their relationship contractor/independent contractor — not employer/employee.  Courts are increasingly resistant to such artificial designations.  The Federal Court in Maryland, in a lawsuit claiming overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act, ruled on January 18, 2012 that independent contractor status did not apply to an installer of…