Don’t Get Burned by Summer Interns
For many of us, summers past were spent working as unpaid interns. When set up properly, these arrangements epitomized the notion of a win-win relationship. The intern beefed up her resume by gaining experience no one would pay her to obtain. The employer built good will by providing a worker with an opportunity to develop skills and talent. The intern had two months to impress the higher-ups and use the contacts he developed to move his career forward. The employer got some work done for free. The paradigm I’ve just described, however, is a relic to the past, at least in the for profit world.
Federal Court Offers Guidance re Arbitration of Employment Claims
Employers should think twice before relying on the arbitration provision contained in an Employee Handbook because for the second time in as many years, a Massachusetts federal court has refused to enforce such a provision. In July 2012, the First Circuit rejected an employer’s bid to compel arbitration after an applicant for employment sued for discrimination. In that case, the court ruled that the arbitration requirement referenced in an employment application was ambiguous because the actual policy referred to “employees” rather than “applicants.”
In a case decided last week, the federal trial court in Boston ruled that an arbitration policy contained in an Employee Handbook was unenforceable because the Handbook did not create a binding contract between employer and employee.
The Readers’ Digest takeaway: remove your company’s arbitration provision from the Handbook and make it a stand-alone document. Read More…
The Business Case for Flexibility
March 29, 2013
Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer’s decision to prohibit Yahoo employees from working from home has caused outrage from work-life balance advocates to environmentalists concerned about further CO2 emissions, not to mention the thousands of employees impacted by her decision. Now, the results of a new survey from Global Workplace Analytics suggest that Mayer’s policy may hurt Yahoo’s bottom line even more than it’s hurting morale. The GWA survey is based on a review of 500 studies about telecommuting. It reports that businesses actually lose more money from employee inefficiency in the office than from telecommuting. That is, businesses lose $600 billion a year in the form of workplace distractions, while two-thirds of employers report increased productivity among their telecommuters. Among other interesting findings: Read More…
Are Your Workplace Posters Up To Date?
Some of the laws administered by Massachusetts and the federal government require that employers post notices to ensure their employees have access to information about their workplace rights. Because these laws are amended regularly, it is important to ensure that your posters are up to date.
The charts below contain links to the applicable state and federal employment law posters. Whether your company is subject to these laws (and posting requirements) depends on a number of factors including the nature and location of the business, the number of employees, annual dollar volume and whether the organization has federal contracts or subcontracts.
Disclaimers: Please note that the charts below do not include laws that apply to companies by virtue of the fact that they are federal contractors or subcontractors. The charts below are a resource, but do not constitute a legal opinion, nor do they substitute for professional legal advice. Read More…
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
March 4, 2013
In a decision handed down on March 4, 2013, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court dealt a blow to a Massachusetts employer that made gratuitous severance payments to a former employee in a bid to avoid litigation. Dixon v. City of Malden, SJC-11137 (March 4, 2013).
Gary Dixon worked for the City of Malden as the director of a city-owned nursing home. When the City terminated Dixon in 2007, it failed to cash-out his accrued, unused vacation days because it had a “policy” of not paying out vacation to employees it terminated “for cause.” Although the parties never reached a formal resolution of Dixon’s complaints that the City improperly terminated him and denied him vacation pay, the City continued paying Dixon his full salary for three months after it terminated him. It did not require Dixon to sign a “release of claims,” nor did it refer to the salary continuation as a payout of Dixon’s accrued vacation. Read More…
Office Romances Gone Awry
Even if your office does not resemble the hotbed of sexual activity depicted at the advertising agency Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce on TV’s Mad Men, chances are that romances are brewing. In a survey of office workers just released by CareerBuilder, almost 40% of workers admit that they have dated a co-worker. Of those, about one-third dated someone senior to them in the office hierarchy, and 16% dated their direct supervisor. Although most office romances will not lead to litigation, a recent decision by the First Circuit (which covers Massachusetts) offers a cautionary tale regarding office romances gone awry. Gerald v. University of Puerto Rico, — F.3d —-, 2013 WL 310396 (1st Cir. Jan. 28, 2013).
Melissa Gerald worked at the University of Puerto Rico as a research scientist and assistant professor. She reported to her department’s director, Dr. Edmundo Kraiselburd. While at a conference in Cuba, Gerald and Kraiselburd engaged in a week-long sexual affair. Conflict arose when the two returned to work: he wanted to continue the affair and she wanted to end it. Although the intimate relationship ultimately ended, by all accounts, the two continued to have a close professional and personal relationship that included banter of a sexual nature. Trouble arose two years later when Kraiselburd allegedly made three unwelcomed sexual advances towards Gerald, including (1) propositioning her in a hotel parking lot in front of her young daughter; (2) grabbing her breast; and (3) asking her “What will it take for you to f–k me?” at a staff meeting in front of Gerald’s colleagues. Gerald alleged that after she rebuffed Kraiselburd’s advances, he took away her administrative responsibilities and decreased the amount of her monthly housing stipend. Read More…
Temporary Workers, Permanent Obligations: What Employers Must Know
On January 31, 2013, Massachusetts will become the second state to require staffing agencies to provide basic job information to employees assigned to temporary or part-time jobs. An Act Establishing a Temporary Worker’s Right to Know will amend Massachusetts General Law, chapter 149, section 159C. The following article provides an overview of the substance of the law and how to comply.
Managing the Haze of the New Medical Marijuana Law
On November 6, 2012, Massachusetts voters approved a ballot measure making Massachusetts the eighteenth state to decriminalize the use of medicinal marijuana. The law became effective yesterday, January 1, 2013. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health has until May 1, 2013 to issue its regulations. The DPH’s regulations will provide answers to many of the outstanding legal questions and details. Despite some uncertainty about what the law may require of employers in the future, here’s some comforting news:
- Employers need not, and indeed should not, permit an employee to use medical marijuana while on the job or on the employer’s premises.
- Health insurance companies need not cover the cost of medical marijuana, so the law should not result in any changes to employers’ policies or premiums. Read More…
SJC Refuses To Enforce General Release of Wage Act Claims
At some point, all employers will be in the unenviable position of wanting or needing to terminate an employee. Given the emotional consequences of being fired, coupled with the difficult job market, many terminated employees will sue or threaten to sue their former employer. Offering a departing employee a separation agreement can be an effective step to minimize exposure to employment claims and the costly litigation that ensues. Under such an agreement, the employer offers the terminated employee something to which he is not otherwise entitled (usually money or benefits). In exchange, the terminated employee agrees not to sue the employer for any claims arising from the employment relationship, such as discrimination, retaliation, misclassification and claims for unpaid compensation. Offering separation pay can be a great way to ease the transition for the departing employee while providing the employer with peace of mind. However, as one Massachusetts employer recently discovered, that peace of mind can be short-lived if the separation agreement is found to be unenforceable. Read More…
State Announces Increased Effort To Crack Down on Illegal Use of Independent Contractors
December 12, 2012
Governor Patrick’s administration announced this week that it intends to launch a study to define the scope and financial costs to the state from the misclassification of employees as independent contractors. According to Governor Patrick’s secretary of labor and workforce development, Joanne Goldstein, the practice of misclassification “deprives the state of revenue,” including avoidance of unemployment and payroll taxes, and also can deprive workers of health insurance, retirement benefits and safe working conditions. Read More…
