What is the deal with tipping in Minnesota? Although there are many legal considerations which must be taken into account when running a service business where customers tip your employees, there is one cardinal sin that comes up the most in service-industry conversations and can get businesses in big trouble: tip-sharing. There are many cautionary
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The Continuing Saga of the NLRB and Employee Policies -The NLRB’s View of Media Policies
Employee work rules and policies continue to be controversial at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Under President Obama, the NLRB determined that many common employer policies and work rules violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) because they interfered with and chilled employee rights to engage in protected concerted activity. The NLRB found these…
A Primer on Non-Competition Agreements in Minnesota
Businesses constantly search for ways to protect their competitive advantages, customer relationships, confidential business information and trade secrets. Non-competition agreements (which often include confidentiality provisions) are usually part of those protection efforts. Despite the belief of many employers (and employees) that these non-competition agreements are unenforceable and not worth the paper they’re written on, they…
Wandering in the Desert – What Does it Mean For Your Website to be Accessible?
Companies are becoming more aware of the need for their websites to be accessible to people with disabilities. But what does this mean and what are the legal requirements? The current state of the law is in flux and the fact is, there is no clear set of criteria to which a company can look…
Eliminate Liability for Sexual Harassment – Investigate and Remedy
Most employers understand the importance of having a well-communicated policy that prohibits various forms of illegal harassment, including sexual harassment. Not only can such policies have the beneficial effect of reducing or eliminating the existence of such harassment in the workplace, but a documented program of addressing and correcting such problems can go a long…
Don’t Get Caught in the Blizzard: Wage and Hour Considerations During Inclement Weather
Snow day office closures and calls from employees unable to shovel their cars out of their driveways cause regular headaches for Minnesota employers in the winter. Now that winter is here and these issues are likely to arise, employers should review the wage and hour laws triggered by inclement weather and also review any related…
Put the phone down!
In helping employers with their written employment policies, we are often asked whether it is necessary to have a policy regarding employees’ use of cell phones for work purposes while driving. The answer, as is often the case, is “it depends.” If your employees drive as part of their job or commonly use their cell phones for work purposes while driving, then your company should address cell phone use while driving in a written policy. A well-written policy can not only reduce the likelihood of accidents caused or contributed to by distracted driving, it can also help reduce your company’s liability in the event of an accident caused or contributed by your company’s employee.
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A Strategic Business Approach to Protecting Trade Secrets
Employee trade secret theft is a significant problem faced by many businesses. It is unfortunately all too common for a departing employee to take valuable confidential information from the former employer to the new workplace. An employer may use a number of legal strategies to stop the theft and misuse of its trade secrets by…
Exercise Caution When Terminating Employee-Owners
In closely-held businesses, it is common for owners to also work as employees. Often, their primary source of income is not from distributions of the business’ profit, but rather their regular salary. This is particularly true for service professions such as accountants, consultants, and medical professionals. The dual role of employee and owner can cause…
Going to the Dogs – Bringing Animals Into the Workplace
Many business open to the public are seeing an increase in the number of service animals being brought into public businesses. There has been a lot of media attention to airline passengers who bring animals onto an airplane as service animals or to provide emotional support or therapy. The same issue can arise in the…